Dùn Mòr (Tiree)
The excavation of the Semi- Broch Dùn Mòr near Vaul, 300 m from the coast at the narrowest point of the island of Tiree in Argyll and Bute , was carried out from 1962 to 1964 by Euan Wallace MacKie (born 1936). This marked the beginning of the phase of modern research on the Brochs on the Atlantic side of Scotland .
The Broch lies on a cliff and has an inner diameter of 9.2 m. The walls, which have been preserved to a height of just over two meters, are around 4.5 m thick. The entrance is on the southeast side. It has a round guard cell and a long bar or bolt hole to secure the door that is no longer there. The gallery running around the inside of the wall on a sector of around 300 ° is well preserved. The main entrance to the gallery and the staircase that gave access to the higher levels are to the north. The idea of the construction in the removed upper area is based on assumptions. The existence of a roof would be logical, but whether there was one and in what height and in what technology is unknown. The central hearth in the floor area implies an opening in the roof structure.
The excavation showed that the construction began in the middle of the first century BC. And was abandoned in the 3rd century AD. In a second period it was used until the Viking Age . It is secured by an outer wall that lies near the edge of the hill. Possibly this belongs to an earlier attachment.
The finds consist of pottery, rotary mills , tools , bone cubes and bronze objects . Both wool weaving and metal processing were to be documented.
See also
literature
- JN Graham Ritchie : Brochs of Scotland (= Shire archeology. 53). 2nd edition. Shire, Princes Risborough 1998, ISBN 0-7478-0389-7 .
- Euan W. MacKie: Dun Mor Vaul. To Iron Age Broch on Tiree. University of Glasgow Press, Glasgow 1974, ISBN 0-85261-112-9 .
Web links
Coordinates: 56 ° 32 ′ 31.5 " N , 6 ° 48 ′ 48.5" W.