Dun Heanish

Dun Heanish is located on a low promontory overlooking the sea, in Heanish, near Scarinish on the Isle of Tiree ( Scottish Gaelic Tiriodh [ ˈtʲʰiɾʲəɣ ]) in the Inner Hebrides , in Argyll and Bute in Scotland .

Dun Heanish is a small round fortification with an inner diameter of approximately 9.0 m. The fortress wall was largely reduced to the foundation. Some external facing bricks can be seen on the north side. The inside and the inside are covered by the remains of unexplained structures from relatively modern times. There is no indication of the location of the entrance, but it was likely in a gap on the southeast side.

The outer work consists of two wall rings, the inner one of which completely enclosed the dun, while the outer one provided additional protection on the lake side. On the southeast coast, just outside the wall, traces of a sub-rectangular building can be seen. Although later than the dun, it can still be ancient. When the dun was toured, the erosion had exposed the center between the walls on the southeast side, where bones, clams, and hammer stones became. E. Beveridge (1903) and D. MacKinnon (1973) found kitchen materials and rough pottery at this point. In 1960, a basin with a diameter of 26.0 and a depth of 20 cm was found among the rubble.

context

The list of ground monuments of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) shows a total of 814 duns for Scotland . The term is used for various types of stone enclosures (Atlantic Roundhouse, Brochs or Wheelhouses ) that date from the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. Until the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD were built and used. About a quarter of the duns (202) are concentrated in the Western Isles .

literature

Erskine Beveridge: Coll and Tiree: their prehistoric forts and ecclesiastical antiquities with notices of ancient remains in the Treshnish Isles. [s. l.] (Edinburgh 1903) pp. 87-8
Euan W. MacKie: The roundhouses, brochs and wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC - AD 500, Part 1 Oxford 2003

Web links

Entry on Dun Heanish in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
Description Engl. and pictures

56.488944444444 -6.8120833333333Coordinates: 56 ° 29 ′ 20.2 " N , 6 ° 48 ′ 43.5" W.