Dun Ardtreck Visit

Dun Ardtreck

Visited on 9/5/17

For archaeology notes and a plan of the Dun, see the previous post on Dun Ardtreck  

A short walk from the parking spot near NG338354, room for two carefully parked cars only! 

Helpful signposts directed us from there to the track through gates and onto the moorland.  A less friendly, but perhaps necessary, sign was on a final gate - to the effect that any dogs worrying sheep would be shot!


 The Dun soon comes into view (NG33503581)

Dun Ardtreck has been the subject of much controversy among archaeologists.  Is it a D shaped semi broch (Mackie)? Is it a full circular broch where sea erosion has caused part of the walls to fall into the sea (Harding and Martlew)?  Is it simply a variant of the complex roundhouse class (Armitt)?

The last visible stone in one of the "legs" of the D

My own feeling is that it is a D shaped broch (aka semi broch)  as I believe the walls flatten out a little towards the sea and there does seem to be evidence of a wall at the edge of the cliff.  Whether being a D shape makes it a semi broch – Mackie style - or a variant of a complex roundhouse class – well I wouldn’t know but I am not at all sure that the two ideas are contradictory anyway except insofar as Mackie believed the semi broch could have been a prototype of the full brochs.  

 Dun Ringill, Dun Grugaig Glenelg and Dun Ruigh Ruaidh near Loch Boom are other examples of semi brochs according to Mackie. (We visited Dun Ringill in July 2016 ( dun ringil)  and Dun Grugaig in May 2016  (no write up for that part of the trip)

"Guard cell"

Part of an outer wall?

One of the door checks

Detail of stone work

Dun Ardtreck is certainly situated in a highly defensive position

One of the finds at the site was a Roman military style axe - now housed in the Huntarian museum.  The axe wasfound in the phase three deposits.  Such a find is very unusual in remote Highland sites and one possible explanation, offered by Mackie, is that it came directly from the Roman fleets of the governor Agricola's campaign around 80Ad.  Perhaps a gift to the local chieftain?

From the Dun we continued towards the light house and looked at the deserted township at Ardtreck Point.  The township must have been deserted some time ago as the OS map of 1881 ( 6" sheetXXX111) shows five un-roofed buildings. However, we saw more than five and Canmore states that the1969 current edition of the OS 1:10560 map shows fourteen un-roofed buildings and three enclosures.

Dun Ardtreck meaning:
The Dun takes its name from the township at Ardtreck Point   Forbes suggests the name could be derived from Aird Bhreach - meaning speckled point.

References:

Armit, I. (1996) The archaeology of Skye and the Western Isles. Edinburgh 


Forbes, Alexander Robert, (1923)  Place names of Skye and Adjacent Islands (digitised by SMO http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/files/PDFs/00915325_Place_Names_of_Skye.pdf.

  Harding, D. W. (2004) , The Iron Age in Northern Britain: Celts and Romans, Natives and Invaders, Routledge, London & New York

Mackie, Euan, Aspects of the origins of the brochs of Atlantic Scotland,retrieved 15/5/17

Mackie, Euan, Excavations at Dun Ardtreck (2000)

(retrieved 5/5/17)

Mackie, Euan, Dun an Ruigh Ruadh, Loch Broom  http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/gas.1980.7.7.32, retrieved 15/5/17

Martlew, R. (1982 )The typological study of the structures of the Scottish brochs, in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 1981-82. vol. 112: 254-76.  Quoted in Mackie above.

 

Harlosh Peninsula - chapel, Dun Neill fort, township, enclosure

Harlosh Peninsula

Visited on 6.4.2017

The peninsula is accessed from a small quarry, for parking, at the end of the road from the A863, sign-posted ‘Harlosh’. The whole area is easy walking with some boggy areas.

Cnoc A’ Cladh – Chapel and Burial Ground

NG 2835 4082

https://canmore.org.uk/site/10860/skye-cnoc-a-cladh-ardmore

Follow the path leading south from the quarry, go through a gate and immediately on your right walk up the small hill and you are in the site of a chapel and a burial ground. The remains area easily seen – two rectangular foundations of buildings are easy to pick out. The smaller one is the remains of a chapel; the larger remains are the walls surrounding the burial ground. Circling the whole top of the hill are indistinct remains of what appear to have been a enclosure wall. The site was last surveyed in 2007 but is, as yet, undated.

Dun Neill – Early Iron Age Fort

NG 2814 4075

Dun Neil "peninsula"

https://canmore.org.uk/site/10861/skye-dun-neill

Continue west from the above site towards Loch Vatten and you will soon see a small inlet in which a steep-sided rocky peninsula can be seen. This is the site of the dun. Canmore describes it as ‘a dun overlying the scant remains of a fort on a cliff girt coastal rock’. The cliffs are steep and encompass the rock. There is only access on the seaward side. Follow the base of the rock to the right and after turning a slight corner steps can clearly be seen. I did not go up these but the rest of the group did. There is a lot to be seen and the archaeology notes on Canmore offer a good resume.

Possible enclosure – unrecorded, undated

NG 2818 4062

Leaving the dun and heading south up onto the hill, rather than along the coast, halfway up the hill you will come to a boggy plateau with the remains of what appear to be a large sub-circular or semi-circular enclosure, with a low mound in the centre. This appears on OS maps as a semi-circular enclosure and can be clearly seen on aerial photographs accessible on Canmore (see https://canmore.org.uk/site/search/result?NUMLINK=10861&view=map ). It is not recorded on Canmore.

Township

NG 2809 4036

https://canmore.org.uk/site/119445/skye-harlosh-point

Carry on south, along the west side of the loch and you will arrive at a ruined village, the remains of four houses and two enclosures. One of the house remains is much bigger than the others. Why? At one end of two of the house is a circle of stones indicating a round partition within the houses. Were they corn stores? The township is shown on the OS 1st Edition 6-inch map (1843-1882).Link to old map on NLS

Probably early to mid 20th century sheep dip

Carry on to Harlosh Point, overlooking Harlosh Island, and then continue back on the seaward edge to the parking area, passing a sea stack and then more remains of buildings and two sheep dip sites. The area has obviously been farmed as a few clearance cairns are visible. Lazy-beds can been seen on aerial photos.

Area around sheep dip showing remains of older buildings

 The word Harlosh is Old Norse. The meaning is unclear but may refer to a river mouth or a big rock. The booklet ‘The Place Names of Skye; a Visitors Guide’ says the name is Old Norse for ‘Rock of the Fire’.