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Remains of an impressive hillfort. At 563 m above sea level this is the second highest in Scotland after Griam Beg in Sutherland. Two defensive episodes have been identified. The larger, lower enclosure covers a massive 21 hectares with an outwork, a stony wall with a core of boulders, running round the break of slope on all but the steeper southeast side. There are at least 800 platform sites within this enclosure, as well as substantial tracks. The platforms are most numerous on northeast and northwest sides with a few larger ones on the more southerly slopes. Some of these may be quarries, at least near the upper fort. The upper fort consists of a massive stone wall, 6-8 m wide and up to 5 m high, that has been vitrified extremely heavily in places, enclosing a rectangular area. A large cistern in the interior is circa 2.2 m deep. In 1886 MacDonald excavated a section of the upper fort's wall but did not find anything. In 1997, within the upper fort, traces of a previously unrecorded enclosure formed by two concentric banks with a ditch were noted. The banks are circa 2 m wide by 0.5 m high with ditch circa 2 m wide. The bank to the east appears to run under the vitrified fort wall. Also two possible hut circles lie within the northern part of the later upper fort, circa 8m and 5m in diameter respectively. Aerial laser scanning of the fort was carried out in 2015 by FCS and University of Aberdeen. An evaluative excavation in the interior was carried out by University of Aberdeen (G. Noble) in 2017 and 2018. This clarified the structural elements of the interior banks, and the inner vitrified wall and contributed to understanding of how the wall had collapsed and been subject to antiquarian intervention and stone robbing over time. No definite structures or material evidence was uncovered in the interior area explored by the trench. Artefacts recovered included several flint flakes and modern bottle glass. Radiocarbon dates suggest activity for the construction and occupation of this upper fort to be between 5th Century BC and 1st Century BC. Three glass beads, three Roman sherds and a bronze terret were found near this lower enclosure. Evaluation excavations in August 2019 by University of Aberdeen targeted the lower fort enclosure and several platforms identified between the lower and upper fort walls.
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Leisure, tourism and outdoors
Historic Environment Records (HER)