Description
The monument is a prehistoric dun, or small fort, most likely dating to the Iron Age (800BC-AD400). It is visible as a roughly sub-triangular enclosure formed by a stone wall with an outer stone wall creating an addition defence on the landward side. It is located on an elevated flat-topped coastal outcrop that has cliffs to the north and west and steeply sloped sides to the south and east. The north and west of the site bound the tidal shores of the mouth of Loch Eynort. The site is located around 10-15m above sea level.
The dun is roughly sub-triangular on plan, enclosing a space about 18m by 16.5m within the remains of stone wall that follows the edge of the rocky outcrop. The wall measures up to 3.5m in width with a maximum external height of 2.5m on the southwest and an internal height of up to 1.3m. On the seaward side the wall is less well preserved with only a few stone courses visible in places. The site would have been approached from the south southeast and here there is the remains of an entrance with a door-check and jamb. The interior of the dun is largely featureless with only slight traces of a stony platform which may indicate the site of a structure. The remains of a substantial outer wall measuring at least 25m in length and up to 3m wide and 1m high, is set downslope from the inner wall on the landward side. It has an entrance set slightly further to the north of the corresponding one through the inner wall. Immediately below and outside the dun are the remains of five structures, probably post medieval huts. Also surviving are two small, conjoined pens which have been constructed against the outer face of the inner wall.
The scheduled area is irregular and includes the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.
Statement of National Importance
The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17):
- The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the past as a possible multi-phase Iron Age defended site. In particular, it adds to our understanding of later prehistoric society in Scotland and the function, use and development of coastal duns and other defended sites.
- The monument retains structural and other physical attributes which makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the past. The overall plan remains clear and understandable with many features surviving as upstanding remains. There is significant potential for the survival of buried archaeological deposits within and beneath surviving structural elements. The monument can significantly add to our understanding of domestic settlement, agriculture and economy during later prehistory.
- The monument is a very good example of a small but complex dun dating to late prehistory, with a central dun and outer defences. The dun is a good, representative example of its type, form and construction. It is therefore an important and unusual example of this monument type.
- The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding of the past. It can tell us about the character, development and use of duns, and the nature of later prehistoric society, economy and social hierarchy in this area of Scotland and further afield. Further research and investigation of the surviving remains have the potential to explain the chronology of this complex site. Such a chronological explanation may help to inform our understanding of the development of similar prehistoric sites across Scotland.
- The monument makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the historic landscape by its association with other prehistoric sites in the area, its coastal location and how its immediate topography was exploited to create a defended site
Assessment of Cultural Significance
This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:
Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)
The monument is the remains of a dun – a type of small prehistoric/early medieval fort. It is located on an elevated flat-topped coastal outcrop and survives as an enclosure defined by a stone wall with an outer wall immediately downslope. The plan of the monument is clear with well-preserved structural elements, including the enclosing wall, entrance passage with surviving door-check and a defensive outer wall. Other architectural details may survive, now hidden by collapsed walling, such as a door socket or bar-hole There are some indications of a possible structure within the interior.
The remains may indicate multiple phases of construction and occupation at the site; the outer wall may represent a second phase of development and expansion. This wall also has evidence of adaptation or repair as a section north of the outer entrance displays two outer wall-faces indicating a reduction in thickness at some point.
There is significant potential for the survival of archaeological features and deposits, including occupation and abandonment debris, artefacts and environmental remains such as charcoal or pollen within the monument. It has the potential to add to our understanding of settlement, land-use and environment during later prehistory. It has the potential to provide information about the economy, diet and social status of the occupants, as well as the structure of contemporary society and economy. Study of the monument's form and construction techniques compared with other forts and duns would enhance our understanding of the development sequence of this site and of prehistoric defended sites in general.
Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)
This type of relatively small, defended settlement characterises much of the coastal settlement of the western seaboard and islands of Scotland in later prehistory. This example is one of 61 duns and possible duns on Skye recorded on the National Record of the Historic Environment. They tend to be located on locally high ground, along prominent coastal routes or within easy reach of the coast. The dun at Kaiknish is in a typical coastal location and is a well preserved example with upstanding inner and outer defensive walls, which could indicate some phasing.
There are other sites in the immediate vicinity which provide important context for the dun at Kraiknish. The nearest examples of similar and likely contemporary sites are Dun Sleadale, broch (SM928) around 6.5km north northwest and Rubh an Dunain, dun on S side of Soay Sound (SM926) around 8.5km southeast. The broch at Sleadale is an example of a broadly contemporary defended site of very different form and construction to Kraiknish. Brochs are a more complex structure than most duns and exhibit specific architectural details such as upper floor galleries and a near circular plan. The example of the dun at Rubh an Dunain is similarly sited to that at Kraiknish, also being set on a rocky coastal promontory. However, as a galleried dun it is different in construction and plan. Here the single defensive wall is more complex in construction with carefully constructed galleries within the wall.
There is potential to study these sites together to better understand their functions within the local communities, settlement hierarchy and possible chronological development in the area. The monument has the potential to enhance and broaden our understanding of prehistoric society and community as well as social organisation, land division and land use. This monument offers an opportunity to help inform our understanding of possible interaction and relationship between enclosed, defended prehistoric sites. The nearby scheduled monuments of Dun Sleadale and Rubh an Dunain provide examples of broadly contemporary defended sites that survive in quite different forms, each with differing plans and construction styles. There is additional research potential here to focus on the study of how these three sites are related, their different forms and if it is possible that these differences related to date or social hierarchies.
The dun occupies a locally prominent landscape position on top of a rocky coastal outcrop. Its position in the landscape means that the dun would have had extensive views to the sea, along the southwest coast of Skye and up Loch Eynort. It may have been positioned here to observe or control movement along the waterways. The prominent siting of the dun may have also been a highly visible statement of presence or power to those living nearby or travelling through the area.
Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)
There are no known associative characteristics connected with this monument.