Site Summary Information |
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Site Name:
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Dun Scalpsie
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Alternative Name(s):
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Scalpsie
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Site Type:
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Dun
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Map Sheet:
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NS05NE | |
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Council:
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Argyll and Bute
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Parish:
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North Bute
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Site ReportWoSASPIN 4836(NS 0548 5866) The Dun (NR). OS 6" map, (1957) Dun Scalpsie, an Early Iron Age dun (information from F W Feachem, RCAHMS) is oval, measuring 97ft ENE-WSW, along its major axis. Though Hewison (1893) notes a 9ft wide wall on SE, there are now no remains of this, though tumbled rocks extend down the hillside for about 20ft. On the NW, at the entrance, the wall is 14ft 6ins thick, and what appears to be an inner wall 8ft thick and 1ft 6ins high runs parallel to it, 4ft away. This wall starts at a large mound of stones, 3ft high, 20ft x 4ft on the N, then runs W, joining the outer wall about 12ft beyond the entrance. It then continues for another 30ft before petering out. Hewison states that at the outer side of the wall, the doorway is 7ft wide, and 10ft wide on the inner. It is virtually obliterated by tumble and braken. He also notes 2 fosses on the SE slope, but no trace was found in 1959, though they could be obscured by tumble and bracken. A small section was cut in 1959. Artefacts found included a spindle whorl, comb fragment, whetstones, slag, animal teeth and bones. Two occupation levels were found, all the finds coming from the primary layer, except the bones, found in both layers. R E MacCallum 1963; J K Hewison 1893. NS 0547 5867. Dun Scalpsie is situated on a rocky knoll and measures overall 31.0m NNE-SSW) by 23.0m transversely. Its walling is best preserved on the W side where it is 4.3m thick with several large outer facing stones in situ. The inner face on this side is only recognisable near the entrance, the remainder of its course being overlain by a modern field wall. The entrance, very well defined and with no evidence of a door check, is 2.0m wide. All that remains of the wall on the S and E is a 2.5m wide band of stone with a considerable amount of tumbled material covering the slopes below. On the N side the wall has completely disappeared under a modern marker cairn and sheep shelter. There is a 2.0m wide spread of loose stones stretching from this cairn to a point 3.0m S of the entrance and although its purpose is not clear it is certainly not associated with the dun. There are no traces of the ditches mentioned by Hewison but a natural terrace 4.0m wide extends from the S around the E and N sides of the hill approximately 15.0m from the dun. The outer edge of this level terrace is traced by the slight remains of a wall, represented by a few outer facing stones and a scatter of stone. This wall 'encloses' a fairly large area of the steep E facing slope of the knoll but because its southern end merges with a modern field wall and the northern end is destroyed, its relationship to the dun cannot be ascertained. It is more likely however to be merely an old field wall than an outwork or annexe to the dun. The name Dun Scalpsie was confirmed locally. Surveyed at 1:10,000. Visited by OS (B S) 11 November 1976. A dun, partly wrecked by the LDV in the Second World War. A trench was dug inside it not long ago when, according to Dorothy Marshall, a fragment of a bone comb was found. Information from K A Steer, 15 July 1975. |
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Further Reading
MacCallum, R E , 'Report on the Excavation at Dun Scalpsie, Isle of Bute, July 1959', Trans Buteshire Natur Hist Soc, Vol 15, 1963, pp. 45-52.(1963) |
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