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Dunnideer

Aberdeenshire, Scotland · Atlas SC2959

Dunnideer is a contour fort and a multiple enclosure in Insch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Other names on the record: Dunnydeer, Dunnideer Castle, Hill of Dunnideer, Castle of Dunnideer, and Gregory's Wall.

It is recorded as extant, with a multivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank, stone wall, vitrification, and unfinished work, and an enclosed area of 3.6 hectares.

Banks or ramparts are the remains most likely to be visible.

The topographic record places it on a hilltop and at 268 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture, scrub or bracken, and heather moorland.

Dating evidence is recorded for 400 BC–AD 50 (C14 and Other).

A scheduled monument number is recorded (95).

Location

Atlas number
SC2959 (2959)
Country
Scotland
Current county or unitary authority
Aberdeenshire
Historic county
Aberdeenshire
Parish, community, or townland
Insch
National Grid reference
NJ 6121 2816
Latitude
57.34243
Longitude
-2.64601
Altitude
268 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort and multiple enclosure
Condition
Extant
Morphology
multivallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
6
Ramparts by quadrant
NE 5, SE 4, SW 5, NW 6
Number of ditches
2
Possible original entrances
2
Breaks through the ramparts
2
Enclosed area
3.6 ha
Enclosure areas
0.16 ha, 0.32 ha, 2.25 ha, 3.6 ha
Footprint
3.7 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank, stone wall, vitrification, and unfinished work
Enclosing works, excavated
stone wall and other burning
Also recorded
multi-period enclosure system and ditches
Entrance forms
Simple Gap (East); Simple Gap (West)

Landscape

Topographic position
hilltop
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture, scrub or bracken, and heather moorland

Dating

Dating
400 BC–AD 50
Dating evidence
C14 and Other
Dating reliability
D - None

Interior and investigation

Interior surface
curvilinear platforms and quarry hollows
Investigations
1st Identified Written Reference (1776); Earthwork Survey (1782); Other (1796); Other (1867); Earthwork Survey (1957); Other (1969); Other (1977); Other (1981); Earthwork Survey (1996); Other (2003); Other (2006); Excavation (2008); Other (2010)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
95
HER
Aberdeenshire Historic Environment Record NJ62NW0001
National record
record NJ 62 NW 1; monument 18128
Wikidata
Q31084614

Sources

References

  1. Cook, M 2010 'New light on oblong forts: excavations at Dunnideer, Aberdeenshire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 140 (2010), 79-91
  2. Cook, Dunbar and Engl, M, L and R (2008) 'Hillforts of Strathdon: Phase 2 - Maiden Castle and Dunnideer, Aberdeenshire (Insch / Oyne parishes), evaluation'. Discovery Excav Scot, New Ser, 9 (2008), 23
  3. Cordiner, C (1780) Antiquities and scenery of the north of Scotland, in a series of letters to Thomas Pennant, Esq. London
  4. Cotton, M A (1954) 'British camps with timber-laced ramparts'. Archaeol J 111 (1954), 26-105
  5. Feachem, R (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London (p 105)
  6. Feachem, R W (1966) 'The hill-forts of northern Britain'. In Rivet, A L F (ed) The iron age in northern Britain. Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh
  7. Halliday, S P (2007) The later prehistoric landscape. In RCAHMS (2007) In the Shadow of Bennachie: A Field Archaeology of Donside, Aberdeenshire. RCAHMS & Society of Antiquaries of Scotland: Edinburgh