Angus HER - NO55NW0032 - FINAVON

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNO55NW0032
NameFINAVON
NRHE Card No.NO55NW32
NRHE Numlink 34813
HES SM No. 139
HES LB No. NULL
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Remains of a hillfort, an elongated, heavily vitrified, timber-laced fort within which lies a well. The fort measures about 152.4m by a maximum of 36.6m internally. Excavations carried out in 1933-4 by Childe (1935) showed that the wall was about 6.1m thick and that it stood 3.6m internally and 4.87m externally beneath the grass-grown rubble. There was a row of dwellings with hearths under the shelter of the north wall. Pot-making, spinning and metal-working were carried out in the lee of the south wall. The finds, including gritty plain potsherds, stone whorls, flints, an iron ring, and a thick jet ring, are in the NMAS. A massive cistern was excavated at the east end to a depth of some 6.3m. In 1966 MacKie dug two trenches against the inner faces of the north and south ramparts, and three radio-carbon dates were obtained indicating that the fort was in use from the 7th century BC until at least the late 5th or early 4th century before being destroyed. Fragments of vitrified and unvitrified material from this fort are in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. A squarish piece of sandstone, 28cm by 25cm, bearing a cup and a groove mark surrounded by two concentric rings, found on the ground surface below the end of the rampart of Finavon fort is in Dundee Museum. The fort has recently been resurveyed.
Last Update20/06/2023
Updated Bycpalmer
Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Google Map for NO55NW0032

National Grid Reference: NO 5069 5567



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
1933 Excavation
1966 Excavation
1999 Field Survey

Excavations and Surveys

Date MDate YTypeDurationDirector / OrganisationAuspicesFundExtent
 1933  V G Childe   
 1958  JLDOS  
 1966  Ewan Mackie   
 1999  Derek AlexanderCFA  

Artefact and Ecofact

Date MDate YArtefact TypeFinderRecovery MethodConditionStorage LocationAccess No.
 1933 POTTERY GC Excavation  
 1933 SPINDLE-WHORLS GC Excavation HH386-416
 1933 IRON RING GC Excavation AO104
 1933 JET RING GC Excavation BE480
 1933 VITRIFIED STONE GC Excavation 1947.336-7
 1987 CUP & RING MARKED STONE 1987-372

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
GROOVES  M100
WELLS  C100
RAMPARTS  D100
HUTS REMAINS OFE100
HEARTHS REMAINS OFF100
POTTERY  G100
SPINDLE-WHORLS  H100
RINGSJET I100
RINGSIRONREMAINS OFJ100
FLINTS WORKEDK100
STONESCUP & RINGCUP-MARKEDL100
FORTSHILLVITRIFIEDA100
WALLSTIMBER-LACED B100