Dunnicaer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: a Roman Iron Age promontory fort beyond the frontier

ABSTRACT

Dunnicaer, Aberdeenshire, a now isolated sea stack, is the findspot of five Pictish symbol stones discovered in the nineteenth century. Excavations from 2015 to 2017 have revealed a Roman Iron Age promontory fort, providing insights into the development of fortified settlement in north-east Scotland, with fortified sites being a key feature of first millennium AD elite practice in this region. The presence of rare and unusual finds indicates contact with the Roman world to the south and changes in the character of settlement as evidenced at Dunnicaer indicate broader transitions in the later Roman Iron Age native society. The archaeological sequence at Dunnicaer sheds new light on the adoption of non-roundhouse styles of architecture in first millennium AD Scotland and provides important evidence for the dating of the Pictish symbol tradition. A consideration of the impacts of coastal erosion on promontories of this nature suggests these are amongst the most threatened archaeological sites.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dunecht Estate for granting permission to access and investigate Dunnicaer. Duncan Paterson of North-east Mountaineering very ably got the team up on top and ensured our safety at all times. Many thanks to the brave diggers Michael Stratigos, Claire Christie, Vanessa Rees, Rob Lenfert, Oskar Sveinbjarnarson, Grace Woolmer, Anni Tolppanen, John Graham, Victoria Wilson, Katie South, Juudit Gross, Scott White, Gemma Cruickshanks, John Harrison, Sarah Elliot, Jeff Oliver and Juliette Mitchell (and Duncan). Bruce Mann and Caroline Palmer kindly provided scans of aerial photographs of Dunnicaer from the Aberdeenshire SMR records. The project was funded by Don and Elizabeth Cruickshank through the University of Aberdeen Development Trust, by Aberdeenshire Council and through grant funding from the Strathmartine Trust.

Contributors

Gemma Cruickshanks - National Museums Scotland; Fraser Hunter - National Museums Scotland; Dominic Ingemark - Uppsala University; Ingrid Mainland - University of the Highlands and Islands; Simon Taylor - University of Glasgow; Colin Wallace - Independent Researcher.

Notes

1. For details of these names, (see Taylor, with, and Márkus 2006, s.n., 2009) s.n., respectively. Note that all the place-name data in the Fife volumes is now online on http://fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service; Historic Environment Scotland [RG14686-10]; University of Aberdeen Development Trust [RG10603-10]. The writing of this article was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award (RL-2016-069).