Description
The monument is a prehistoric dun, a defended enclosure likely to date to the Iron Age (between 500 BC and AD 500). It is visible as a low, turf-covered bank of wall debris enclosing an oval area at the W end (the summit) of an elongated rocky ridge. A steep rock-face, some 11m in height, affords strong natural protection on all sides except the ENE, where there is relatively easy access up a gentle grassy slope. The interior of the dun measures approximately 18.5m NE-SW by 12.5m transversely. The enclosing wall follows the edge of the summit area, but is now much reduced. The dun sits at 20m above sea level. The monument was first scheduled in 1978, but the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.
The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment may survive, and adjoining land essential for the monument's support and preservation, as shown in red on the accompanying map.
Cultural Significance
The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:
Intrinsic characteristics
The monument is in a stable and relatively good condition despite clear evidence of the removal of material from the wall. The dun takes advantage of the steep-sided outcrop on which it sits for its natural defence. Access is likely to have been from the ENE up a gentle grassy slope and researchers think the most likely position of the entrance was in the NE. The enclosing wall which runs around the edge of the summit comprises a bank of rubble debris and a robber trench, which probably indicates the line of an outer face. For most of its length the bank of wall debris is approximately 1.5m wide, but in the NE arc it is over 4m wide. The collapsed wall is likely to seal occupation and structural debris below ground, but the interior is obscured by scrub and rough grass and there are no visible remains of buildings or other internal features.
There is good potential here for the survival of buried deposits and features beneath and beyond the wall and within the dun interior. Future examination of the dun could provide detailed information about its date, form and construction, and investigation of the interior could contribute to our understanding of how it was used and how this may have changed over time. Buried artefacts and palaeoenvironmental evidence can contribute to our understanding of how people lived and worked, the extent and nature of trade and exchange, and the nature of the agricultural economy here. The monument therefore has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the nature of Iron Age settlement and the design and development of these defended enclosures.
Contextual characteristics
This type of defended settlement characterises much of the coastal occupation of Argyll and Atlantic Scotland in later prehistory. It belongs to a much broader category of later prehistoric settlement, which includes brochs, forts, crannogs, duns and hut circles. Altogether, over 500 later prehistoric settlements are known in Argyll. In the Oban area alone, from Loch Feochan in the SSW to the entrance to Loch Etive in the NE, and up to 5km inland, some 25 confirmed and possible forts and duns have been recorded. This is a significant local distribution and emphasises the importance of the likely interconnections between these monuments, as well as the significance of this area of land and coastline to its later prehistoric inhabitants. This example is particularly interesting because of its coastal position at a junction between the Sound of Mull, Loch Linnhe and the Firth of Lorn. Researchers think that such monuments were deliberately meant to be seen both from land and sea and, in many cases, they were built to be inter-visible with each other, as in this case: another fort is sited only some 800m to the NE, at Glencruitten golf course.
It is believed that duns represent the remains of living spaces of small groups or single families. The study of these monuments, and specifically the duns and forts in this vicinity, has high potential to enhance our understanding of their dating and duration of use, as well as of the settlement pattern and the use of defensive sites in later prehistory. It can help us to understand much about the Iron Age occupation of Kintyre and further afield.
Associative characteristics
The site was recognised as a 'Fort' on the first edition Ordnance Survey map in the late 18th century, although the term 'fort' normally relates to a larger defended enclosure than the physical remains represented here.