Monument record 271 - DUN LOCH AN DUNA, LIURBOST, LEWIS

NB32NE 1 3903 2614.

(NB 3903 2614) Dun Loch an Duna (NR)
OS 6"map, Ross-shire, 2nd ed., (1899)

Dun (NR)
OS 6"map, (1965)

'Within 35 yards of the west shore (of Och an Duna) is a small island surmounted by the remains of a dun. All that now survives is a ruined stonne walll built round the water's edge. The rampart has tumbled down, but on the west side a part of the outer face remains in position for a length of some 12ft and a height of about 4ft. Viewed from the shore there sems to be an inner building on the south half of the island .' RCAHMS 1928, visited 1914.

The remains of an island dun measuring internally 19.7m NE-SW by 18.8m transversely, within a ruined stone wall averaging 1.3m. thich consisting of an inner and outer wall face with rubble core. The outer face remains to a maximum height of 0.7m above water-level on the south side. The footings only of the inner face survive. Within the enclosed area there are secondary buildings, one, sub-rectangular measuring 5.0m x 4.0m internally with a wall c. 1.0m thick and c. 1.0m high, is joined by a wall, 0.9m thick, to a small, heavily overgrown circular structure, c. 1.0m diameter and c. 1.0m high. The name could not be confirmed locally. Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (R L) 5 July 1969.

'The monument...comprises of the remains of a small island dun, a fortified settlement of Iron Age date. The area to be scheduled is circular, measuring a maximum of 20m in diameter centred on the dun and enclosing the entire island on which it is situated.'
HS Scheduling Document 5 March 1992.

Underwater investigation around the island dun by C.Murray & M.Elliot in 2012/13 recovered Neolithic ceramics. These were subsequently C14 dated through the 'Islands of Stone' project with dates between 3520 - 3370 cal BC.
KM (Arch Service)26/07/23

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 12, No. 12 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

D.Garrow, F.Sturt, M.Copper, 2017, Submerged Neolithic of the Western Isles
Interim Report (March 2017) (Unpublished document). SWE41254.