stirling-1963-vol-1/05_062

Transcription

INTRODUCTION : THE EARLY IRON AGE
appears, therefore, to have been directed at the southern and eastern parts of the county, and
inferences as to the directions from which such movements may have come can only be drawn
from consideration of the positions and characteristics of the monuments concerned. Almost
all of these are hill-forts and duns, the rest consisting of a settlement, homesteads, a broch and
possibly some crannogs.

FORTS
The Inventory records fourteen small forts which are considered likely to have been founded
in the Early Iron Age. Among these, two structural classes can be recognised, namely the
stone-built forts, mostly of the contour type, which may exhibit vitrifaction, and the rampart-
and-ditch forts, which appear mainly on promontories and ridges. The first group comprises
Dumyat (No. 68), Abbey Craig (No. 69), Braes (No. 74), and Mote Hill, Stirling (No. 80),
at all of which vitrifaction has been reported, together with the unvitrified forts at Sauchie
Craig (No. 71), Myot Hill (No. 75), Meikle Reive (No. 78) and Craigmaddie (No. 79).
The second group includes Gillies Hill (No. 70), Cowie (No. 72), Langlands (No. 73), Coneypark
(No. 76) Camelon (No. 82), and probably Livilands (No. 81).

DUNS
The word "dun" is now commonly used to describe a type of stone structure which is
distinguished by comparatively small size and a disproportionately thick wall. It is smaller
than most hill-forts but seems to be built for defence in a way that the conventional farmstead
or homestead is not. Such works vary greatly in size and shape and, no doubt, in date of
construction and duration and frequency of occupation. Two groups of duns occur in
Stirlingshire, one in the hills around the upper reaches of the Bannock Burn and the other
centred on the watershed between the River Kelvin and the Bonny Water. These small
structures have proved to be convenient quarries for builders in modern times, and have
suffered extensive robbing; but it has nevertheless been possible to prepare plans from the
surface remains of five of the northern group, three others having proved too ruinous to be
planned and one having now been completely removed. The southern group, of seven duns,
has entirely disappeared in recent times, but the record of the one at Auchinloch (No. 93),
which was known as Cairn Faal, is so detailed that its identification is certain. The descriptions
of the others are less precise, but there can be little reasonable doubt that they belong to the
same class. The dun at Craigton (No. 89) differs from the rest in that it is enlarged and
strengthened by outer defensive walls. Parallels to this plan are commonly found among the
small forts and duns of Argyll.

SETTLEMENTS AND HOMESTEADS
The amount of land available in eastern Stirlingshire for growing crops and grazing beasts
may have been considerably less in the Early Iron Age than in modern times, even in proportion
to the demands made upon it, which must likewise have been smaller; and there can be no
doubt that the inhabitants of the small forts and duns that were established throughout the
area must have claimed a large share of it for their own requirements. That they were not the

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