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.

 

Dun Suladale

Dun Suledale (17/1/17)also written as Suladale
NG 3744 5255

Directions

A track, marked on the OS map, leads S off the A850 Dunvegan-Portree Road.  

Apparently the land where the broch is situated is a grouse moor so visiting in the winter is a good idea and visiting in summer, after the glorious twelfth, is probably a very bad idea.

Although not marked on the map, once you pass through the gates at the beginning of the track, it appears to branch off in three directions.  Take the track on the right, heading south.

Follow this excellent track for around a mile.  The broch will become visible on the left.  Continue on the track until almost level with the broch then set off over the rough, heather covered and rather boggy moorland.   Leaving the main track too early is not recommended as this will mean more boggy ground and watery burns to cross.

The broch

 The name Suledale (Suladale), according to Forbes, may mean Dun of the solan geese (see post on placenames) Solan geese are northern gannets.  I am no bird expert but I have only seen gannets right on the coast.  This broch is not that close to the coast.  So is the name origin wrong or is this perhaps the name of the tribe who built the broch?  Certainly some bronze age/iron age tribes apparently used animal names, almost like a "totem"...cf Epidii (supposedly related to horse god - tribe in Islay)
 

 The broch is in better condition than many we have visited.  The stones of the walls are very even in size and shape.  At least two "guard cells" are visible as well as a short flight of steps.  

Stairs

Cell in NE

The "passageway" to the entrance

There is some evidence of an outer wall and there are two lines of stones forming a passageway from that outer wall to the broch entrance.   Mackie seems to imply that this may not be original.... " a passage through the rubble to the broch entrance has been cleared here in modern times" (https://canmore.org.uk/site/11143/skye-dun-suladale)



 In summer 2015 AOC Archaeology did a survey of Dun Suledale using laser scanning – their results offer a far better description of the broch than I could attempt so just follow the link:

http://her.highland.gov.uk/hbsmrgatewayhighland/DataFiles/LibraryLinkFiles/292815.pdf

From AOC report

Survey plan from AOC report

In 1948, Mrs Edward Hilleary of Edinbane donated a few items, apparently found at/near Dun Suledale, to the British museum - the question marks on the datings are as written in British Museum Catalogue.

1.      Small sub-spherical stone bead, flattened at perforation. Traces of red colouring.  No image available for this one.  The description at the museum helpfully assigns the bead to “Neolithic? Bronze age? Iron age?”

2. Copper alloy spiral ring; made of thin strip forming four coils, and tapering to point at either end. Early Iron Age ? Late Bronze Age? 
   
   http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=Dun+suledale

3. Stone polisher, oval, flattened through use. Neolithic? Bronze age? Again no image available

Such finds would seem to indicate that this area was inhabited long before the broch was built.

This blog will be updated after our visit on 31/1/17 and improved by better photographs - taken by more skilled photographers than I am.

Continues : https://u3a-skye-archaeology.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/dun-suladale-2.html