IV. RUDH DUNAIN A ' N CHAMBERED CAIRN, SKYE WY B . .LINDSA Y SCOTT, D.S.C., B.A., F.S.A.ScoT. SITUATION OF CAIRN. As the situation of this cairn is somewhat surprising and may thro we distributio th ligh n o t f populatioo n n Neolithii n c timet i s seems desirable to deal with it before proceeding to a description of e cairth n itselfe promontorTh . f Rudhyo n Dunaia ' e wesnth lietn o s coas e ape a trianglf Sky th o f t o x t d moorlandea f uneve o an e g bo n , some eight square mile n extenti s , broke many b n y small cragse Th . base of this triangle is formed by the precipitous line of the Cuillin Hills, its south side by the Sound of Soay, and its north-west side by a loc f se Brittleho e th . Just withi e brackise apeth th ns i x h lochan, Loc a h'Airden h , which fallt inte Sounou sth o f Soao d y througa h channel 100 yards in length which fills from the sea at equinoctial springs (fig. 1). A neck of land, 200 yards across, divides the head of the lochan from the small bay, Camas a'Mhurain, on the Loch Brittle promontorye th sid f o e . Apart fro ma nai'ro w strip alon e shorth g e nea e hea th rf Loc o d h Brittle e onlth , y par f thio t s area capablf o e cultivation is a shallow valley running wesWsouth-west for something less than half a mile to Loch na h'Airde. Owine formidablth o gt e e barrieCuillinsth f o r , beyond whice li h Coruisk and the precipitous shores of the sea-loch of Scavaig, the only land acces o thit s s t areinvolvinno a g serious climbins i g throug s northerhit n corner from Glen Brittle. This lond narrogan w 184 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 8, 1932. glen, with high hill botn so s sides hit s itseli , f eas f approacyo h only b ya singl e pass fro s heamit d ove Drynoco t r e hea th f Loc do t ha h Harport. No s accesi r o Budht s n Dunaia ' n easie y sealanding-placb A r . e 3 miles to the east of the point is used in fair weather by the fisher- men of Soay, but it offers no shelter and is impracticable in any sea. The head of Loch Brittle is shoal and sandy and attractive enough for flat-bottomed boats in off-shore winds, but it is unapproachable in \fc \ RuuH n Duta ' i n ai 0*t .A ft f1 §i« V Caro*aa'MMir*;J\ > r»rl" Rudhf o p Dunainn a 'Fig Ma . .1 , Skye. (Scal in.=110e1 0 ft.) winds between sout d westan h . Camas a'Mhurain e smalth y , ba l already mentioned north-eastwar f Rudhdo n Dunaina ' s rockyi , t bu , can be used by small boats in calm weather. The outfall of Loch na h'Airde, though its sea approach is encumbered with rocks, is sheltered e south-wesonth $plee f th Sgei o ty b t r Mhor, whic w s joinei hlo t a d water to the shore. It has, in fact, been used at some past period as a boat port and boulders have been moved aside to make a runway, but t wouli dangeroue db approaco st swelly e highean Th n .hi r levef o l the land in the Hebrides in late Neolithic times, as evidenced, for example, by the position of the chambered cairn of Geirisclett, in RUDH AN DUNAIN CHAMBERED CAIRN, SKYE. 185 1 North Uist, would have improved the shelter provided by Sgeir Mhor, n windi s unusabld n whici swa an t i h e resor1 t might perhaps have been had to Camas a'Mhurain, but access to the promontory by sea can never have been satisfactory. The triangular area described is now wholly uninhabited; Glen Brittle has eleven inhabited houses, but their number is diminishing. In the eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries there was a larger population, and remains of houses and cultivation extend both up the a mil gled e an nalon e southerth g ne lochshorth f . o e Untie th l middle of last century Rudh' an Dunain was farmed separately from Glen Brittle by the family of Macaskill, and the ruined two-storied farmhouse e shallo stande heath th f do t w sa valley running dowo t n Loch na h'Airde. The grave of the last Macaskill, tacksman of Rudh' e churchyarDunainn a th n i s i , f Kilmoruydo , Loch Eynort. Therknowo n s ei n evidenc f ancieno e t habitatio n Glei n n Brittle. Apart froe cairth m n e subjecwhicth s f i hthio t s paper e onlth , y recorded evidence of ancient settlement in the triangle of moorland of which Rudh' an Dunain is the apex is the " galleried dun" of the same name.2 This massively built structure defends the neck of a very small triangular promontory e verticath , l sea cliff f whico s h command outfale th f Loco l e boaa h'Airdn hth td porean t described aboves A . s limiteit f o dy class an s bee r neitheha , nno , excavatedit r s datit , e musmattea e b t f conjectureo r t primathero n bu , s ei facie reasor nfo datin t otherwisgi ee Earl thath o ynt witIroe broche hnAg th s which closelo s t i y resembles.3 Attention has been drawn to the situation of Rudh' an Dunain cairn because it appears remarkable that a chambered cairn should be found in this exceptionally remot inhospitabld ean e cairne spot Th s wil.a , l be shown below, was an elaborate structure of its class and was used in Neolithi n Beakei d an cr times. Ther a smal s i e l cair t Kraiknisna h on Loch Eynort, 3 miles to the north of Glen Brittle, which was excavated by the writer, and found to cover a pentagonal cist containing beakero a flintw d t an sbutto n scraper.4 This cist might possible yb 1 The evidence has been collected by Dr J. G. Callander : Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. Ixiii. p. 319. 2 Roy. Com. Hist. Mon. (Scot.), Outer Hebrides, Skye, d Smallan Isles, 483. No . 3 For a discussion on " galleried duns" see A. O. Curie, Antiquity, vol. i. p. 296, and Roy. Com. Hist. Mon. (Scot.), Outer Hebrides, Skye, and Small Isles, pp. xxxv and xxxvi. It is tentatively suggeste e Commissioth y db n tha simplee th t r for heagalleriestanf e my o th anf dma t o d . a n ddu evolutionary series of increasing complexity of which the broch is the culmination. So far as it can be investigated without excavation, however, Rudh' an Dunain appears no less complex than a broch, althoug , fro naturis e msitet s hth i it f ,e o les s extensive distinctive Th . e feature brocf so h structure are identically reproduced, and the manner and quality of the workmanship present no features which would differentiate it from the finest Hebridean brochs. Professor V. G. Childe comment thin so s subjec Proc.n i t Roy. Soc. Edin., not, . vol77 e par45 . 1 p . i t • Report in Man, October 1929. 186 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 8, 1932. regarded as transitional in type between the chambered cairn and the Bronze Age short cist. These two cairns provide the only evidence of habitation before the Iron Age in the mountainous area lying between e relativelyth fertile land f Strathairf o Locso e easd hth an t o t d Bracadal northe generae th Th o et . l distributio f chambereno d cairns e Hebrideinth s does not, however, suggest that they were ordinarily place t greada t distances fro dwellinge m th wor e livinge th th k d f so an , of constructing them must have involved a substantial number of men. It seems necessary to suppose therefore that this region^ which has never supported more than a sparse population in modern times, was moderately thickly inhabited in the Neolithic and Beaker periods. This s consisteni t wite vieth h w commonl e ydeterioratio th hel f o d f o n climate and with the evidence for the growth of peat since that time;! free f ito ds coveringrounw lo e f peatd go th e soi immediatelf th ,o l y to the west and south-west of the Cuillins would support a far greater numbe f domestio r c animal doessw thano . t ni SITE OF CAIRN. e cairnTh , t showwhice Ordnancno th s n i hni e Survey, standt a s the highest point of the neck of land between Loch na h'Airde and Camas a'Mhurain latn i , . 57 °longd 9' an 58 . ." N 6° 18'45" heigha W. t a , f o t some 30 feet above the sea. The site is approximately level, and is now covered with rough grass and heather over the solid basalt. Although higher land lie spoine betweeth f Rudhd o t an Dunaihn t a 'ni viee th , w fro caire mth wid s ni included ean e Cuillin north-easte sth th o t s e th , coas north-west e f o Skyt th o t e islando m et th Bu d f Eigo d san , gan seaward.