68 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , 1948-49. VII. DUN LAGAID FOUD HAN R OTHER PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS NEAR ULLAPOOL, ROS. D CROMARTYT . AN SS . C Y B . CALDER, A.R.I.A.S., F.S.A.ScoT., AND K. A. STEER, M.A., PH.D., F.S.A., F.S.A.ScoT. Read May 9, 1949. In May 1947 Mrs Elizabeth Gibb visited Dun Lagaidh on the west side of Loch Broom (6-inch O.S. map, XXII; National Grid Ref. 28/143914), and subsequently informed the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland that the remains consisted of a broch enclosed withi ramparte nth vitrifiea f so d fort. Sinc vitrifieo en d previouslford ha t y been recorde e westh tn do coas f Scotlano t d nort f Locho he Alsh,th d 1an distributio sucf no h fortbeed ha sn though "strictle b o t y complementary to, and mutually exclusive with, that of the brochs," a this discovery, if established, was of outstanding importance.3 On behalf of the Commission, a survey of the remains was accordingly made by the joint authors in the following October, -with the results detailed below. At the same time opportunit takes wa yvisio nt t four other prehistoric monumente th n i s vicinit Ullapoolf yo noted thesan ,n sthereforo e ear e include thin di s paper. The whole is now published by the Commission's authority. Commission'e Th Gibbs Mr , o whost se thankdu e e observationar s d an s deduction Lagaidn Du t a hs were fully confirme e surveyo t th d y b dan , Eckford. A Geologica e . J th M . f ro R , l Surve Greaf yo t Britain informar fo , - e buildinth tio n no Ruign a g n stoneh Du Lagaid n t sa useDu d t da han Ruadh. , . I VITRIFIED BROCHFOR D LAGAIDN AN T DU , H. 1) (fig , 1 . About two miles S.E. of Ullapool a wedge-shaped tongue of land juts out 300 yards into Loch Broom from its western shore. For the most part, this tongue consists of a raised beach, now arable; but 200 yards inland a hog- backed ridg f Moineo e schist, measuring som yard0 e40 s from eas weso t t t yard0 by10 s from nort southo ht , rise flae s th abruptlt f grouno t ou yo dt a maximum height of 80 feet above its base. The sides of the ridge are everywhere steep, and are precipitous in places: its top is uneven, and is 1 Childe, Scotland Before Scots,e th Appendi. xXI 2 Proc. Prehist. Soc., vol. xiii. (1947). 16 . p , 3 For another vitrified fort, discovered shortly afterwards in the same region (Gair Loch), see Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. Ixxxi . 182p . LAGAIDDUN OTHEHAND R PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS69 . lightly clothed with grass and bracken, interspersed with small clusters of stunted oak, hazel and rowan. On a small knoll which crowns the ridge, 80 yards from its west end, stands the ruin known as Dun Lagaidh (fig. 2). To-da structure yth e appears simpl roughla s ya y circular, crater-shaped hea f stonespo , abou fee 0 diameten 9 ti t fee8 td rime y higB th an r .t ha clearing awa surface yth e stones, however quickle w , y reveale segmento dtw s Fig . Prehistori1 . c Monuments near Ullapool showinp ma : g sites. of outer face on the south-east and west sides at a height of possibly 10 feet abov foundationse eth curvature th : facee th t thesf sa e o e points indicateda circular building wit externan ha l diamete approximatelf ro feet0 y6 . Owing to the amount of debris choking the interior, no inner face could be detected; but a fragment of rough walling on the west side, the joints of which show trace limf so e mortar represeny ma , modera t n rebuil thif do s face whicn i , h cas originae eth l wall woul aboue db fee2 1 tt thic t thika s pointshape Th e. e structure th d sizs stronf it an o e d gan , position, dominatin aren ga f o a cultivable land and within easy reach of a good anchorage, clearly identify it as a broch. Since the amount of debris is sufficient to conceal the entrance, the foot of the stair, and perhaps chambers, it would certainly repay excavation. 70 PROCEEDING SE SOCIETYOTH F , 1948-49. broce Th encloses hi d withi wastee nth d remain vitrifiea f so d fort which occupieridge measured th f ean o wes e d sth en t s internall fee 0 lengtn i yt30 h SECTIOF E- N iif / <lfcJi3l Pig . Du2 . n Lagaidh: plasectionsd nan . by about 120 feet in maximum width. On three sides the defences of this fort appear havo st e comprised onl ysingla e wall, drawn roun irregulae dth r rocky edge of the summit area, but on the more vulnerable fourth, or east, DUN LAGAIDH AND OTHER PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS. 71 side a medial ditch and an outer rampart have been added to give extra protectio entrancee presene th th o nt t A t. tim mai e traco th en nf eo wal l survives on either the north or south sides, but at the west end it is repre- moun basw e sente lo whicth f eo a t d a y dhb three short length outef so r face are visible standing to a maximum height of 2 feet 9 inches above the turf. The dimensions of the mound indicate a wall thickness of 12—13 feet. The facing-stone three th et t fused a widel t no e bu , sar y separated points marked on the plan vitrifaction can be seen in the exposed soil. Samples of the facing-stones, and of the vitrified material, have been identified by Mr Eckford as Torridon Sandstone, patches of which occur in the local Moine schist. At the east end both ramparts are reduced to low mounds, while the southern half of the inner rampart has totally disappeared: the ditch, some 10 feet wide almoss i , t completel unexcavaten yA silte . dup d rock traverse centre ditcie nth th f heo presumably represent entrancee sth , sinc otheo en r convenient accesinterioe th o st availables i r , althoug traverse hth onls ei y 3 feet 6 inches wide and is partly obstructed by the tail of a rock outcrop. Vitrifactio agais ni n presenplaceexposeo e th tw n t si a t dinnee corth f reo rampart, north of the entrance, and also in the fragment of outer rampart, entrancesoute e lyinth th f ho go t , which curves outwards fro ditce mth n hi a curious manner to end against the outcrop referred to above. From examination of the superficial remains it is clear, therefore, that a substantial part, if not the whole, of the fort defences contains vitrified matter, which s Professoa , r Wallac M Child d ean e Thorneycrofb have shown,1 results fro combustioe mth wooe wala th f n dni o l compose stonf do e and timber after the fashion of a murus gallicus. As far as is known this type of construction was never used for the external defences of brochs whic buile har t eithee b f stone brocd for o ry th an r earth,t eo d hma an regarded, therefore, 2 as the separate works of two peoples. Although the relative dates are not evident from the plan, since neither work impinges upo hardlothere n nth ca doubtede t yi ,b , fro mcomparisoa state th f f eo no the remains, that the broch is the later of the two. The denuded condition of the fort walls, in marked contrast to the substantial debris of the broch, coupled wit face hth t tha e brocth t h masonr alss yi o Torridon Sandstone, can only mean that the fort has served as a quarry for the broch builders. This conclusio t prejudiceno e apparens i nth y b d t absenc f vitrifieo e d material in the broch debris, since the broch builders would presumably select only unfused facing-stones; othee th n r o hand t derivei , s support froo mtw stony mounds, representing ruined walls, that radiate respectively from the north-west and south-east arcs of the broch debris and terminate on opposite e ridgedgeth f eo sinnee topTh r. end f theso s e wall coveree e sar th y db broch debrist seemi d san , likely that they have bounde dcontemporara y Proc.1 Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. Ixxii (1937-8) ff5 .4 . pp , 2 R.C.A.M., Orkney Shetland,d an Introduction. 33 . ,p 72 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1948-49. enclosure; while the fact that their outer ends overlie the site of the vitrified wall is proof that they are later in date than the fort. II. BROCH, DUN AN BUIGH RXJADH, RHIBOY (fig. 1, 2). This broch is situated a quarter of a mile from the western shore of Loch Broom lowee th n ro , slope behind Carnaf san o crofte n dth t nRhiroBa a s y (6-inch O.S. map, XXII; National Grid Ref. 28/149901). It stands on the edge of a precipitous rocky bluff, some 30 feet high, and commands an extensive view alon e margie locgth th o N.N.B ht f no d S.S.W.an . d an , eastwards acros narroe sth w stri arablf po e land that falls gently froe mth foot of the bluff to the water's edge.