Dun Mor A 'Chaolais

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The Broch Dun Mor A 'Chaolais (Caolas) stands on the top of a low rocky hill on the east coast of the Hebridean island of Tiree in Argyll and Bute in Scotland . Although the construction is overgrown with turf and dilapidated, structural details can be seen. There are modern walls, one of which runs directly over the broch , whose northeastern arch has been severely disrupted by this extension.

The inside diameter of the brochure is about 12 m. The original wall thickness was about 3.7 m. The Broch wall seems to have been reinforced at an uncertain height with an outer covering layer up to 5.8 m thick. On the south side traces of an intramural gallery can be seen, of which more could be seen at the beginning of the 20th century. There is likely a wall cell in the southeast, and traces of access can be seen in the northwest. There are also signs of a guard cell , which in modern times was covered by a simple rectangular building, possibly a watchtower (there was an RAF airfield on Tiree between 1939 and 1945 ).

There are traces of an outer wall that runs around the site and possibly rests against the west side of the Broch wall. The stones can be seen in several layers. In the south there is a 2.1 m wide outer gate.

Although the brochure has not been examined, it is interesting because there is some additional masonry on its outer wall. The purpose of this addition is unclear. According to Euan Wallace MacKie, they are stones taken from the top of the tower and carefully stacked against the base of the wall. The top wall of Dun Arkaig on Skye can probably also be explained in this way.

This interpretation is made more plausible by the additional door frame immediately in front of the old entrance. This suggests that the old access was made unusable at some point, so a new one had to be designed. A similar phenomenon can be seen at Dun Telve in the Highlands , Gurness in Orkney, and a number of other brochures.

Nearby is the menhir of Caolas .

See also

literature

  • Ian Armit: Towers in the North: the Brochs of Scotland. London 2003.
  • Euan W. MacKie: The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC-AD 500: architecture and material culture, the Northern and Southern Mainland and the Western Islands, BAR British series 444 (II), 444 (1), Oxford 2007.

Web links

Coordinates: 56 ° 31'49.1 "  N , 6 ° 44'43.3"  W.