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 Ringill

NG 562171

visited 26/7/2016

 



Directions – an easy walk along a clearly defined coastal path.  There is a large layby marked P on the map at NG545172.  From this point it is an easy walk, turning right at the minor road at Kilmarie, down towards Kilmarie house, crossing the river at the bridge just before the house, from here a clearly defined coastal path which leads very close to the Dun.  Bracken and nettles may obscure the site in summer.  It is possible for the more adventurous to cross the river via stepping stones, nearer to the sea.

 


Looking at the OS map, one of the first things that strikes me is the number of Duns/brochs along this coastline.  While we cannot know exactly when they were built, it is reasonable to assume they were built and still all in reasonable condition towards the end of the first century AD.  Must have been an impressive sight.

Plan from Canmore

When I tried to find out a bit more about Dun Ringill, google just wanted to tell me about Jethro Tull. Their song, Dun Ringill was written in 1979 by group member Ian Anderson who owned the Strathaird Estate from 1978 to 1994 when it was purchased by  the John Muir Trust.

In the wee hours I'll meet you
Down by Dun Ringill
Oh, and we'll watch the old gods play

 

RCHMS classify this site as a Dun, (1928) Mackie suggests it is a semi broch (1965). Harding suggested it was a circular broch – part of which had fallen over the cliff. (https://canmore.org.uk/site/11431/skye-dun-ringill).  By my own personal classification, I have decided it is a dun, but with architectural aspects in common with a broch.. so"semi-broch" is maybe an acceptable description  - although this term is no longer fashionable. I would guess (in the absence of any firm data to prove me wrong) that this structure is earlier than most "true" brochs but later than the promontory forts where a slightly curved wall was built across the neck of the promontory (e.g Rubh an Dunain or nearby Dun Grugaig) .  Maybe they were experimenting with the concept of galleries, cavity walls and intra mural cells within an almost circular structure.  On the other hand it could simply be the location that dictated the form of the structure.

There are no records of excavation but the site has been re-used in later times which complicates its definition.  There is evidence of medieval/post medieval mortar in some of the lower levels.

According to Mary Miers, quoted on canmore, the structure was  “ refashioned c.14th century as the first residence of the Mackinnon chiefs in Skye (later abandoned for Kyleakin); remains of two medieval lime-mortared buildings in the curtilage. This was one of the six 'castells' on the island listed by Dean Monro in the mid-16th century.” (https://canmore.org.uk/site/11431/skye-dun-ringill )

 One of the most fascinating aspects is the remains of a cell within the South wall.  A curved and corbelled section is visible.  This was apparently part of a large cell, the outer wall having fallen over the cliff.

Curved wall of possible  intra mural cell

Entrance

The original walls remain but the lintels and walling above the original entrance have been removed (and probably recycled in constructing the newer, inner tower).  The combined entrance became quite long and awkward, with a slope which seems to bring you out into the middle of the new construction.

Curved wall seen from further back

The best photos and some of the wording has been blatantly copied from Su's personal blog http://stayathome2010.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/terrific-tuesday.html