UK Archaeology News

Vitrified Hillfort excavation in 2015

Dun Deardail (Richard Webb) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Dun Deardail sits high on a rocky knoll on the west side of Glen Nevis in Lochaber and offers breathtaking views over the surrounding landscape.

No archaeological excavation has ever taken place within the fort and it remains undated.

However, digs at other similar sites indicate it may have been built and occupied – perhaps over several periods – between 700BC and 900AD.

The fort also provides a nationally rare and important example of vitrification – a process by which intense heat from a man-made fire causes the smaller core material within the wall to partially melt and fuse.

The project is being undertaken by Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) in tandem with Nevis Landscape Partnership, which looks after and manages the Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis area.

FCS archaeologist, Matt Ritchie, said the excavation would be led by a team of professional archaeologists assisted by volunteers, both local and from further afield.

You could always get in touch with the Nevis Landscape Partnership to express interest.
http://www.nevispartnership.co.uk/contact.asp

Exit mobile version