Monument record 522 - DUN CUIER, BARRA

NF60SE 1 6641 0340.

(NF 6641 0340) Dun Cuier (NR)
OS 6"map, Inverness-shire, 2nd ed., (1903)

Dun Cuier, a fairly well preserved galleried dun, was excavated by Young between 1953 and 1955.
The finds, dated from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD, including pottery sherds of late and post-wheel-house types, metal objects, bone combs, bone gaming pieces, bone pins, stone tools, querns, etc., were presented to the NMAS by The MacNeil.
Intrusive walls within the dun can be dated to c. 1746.
A Young 1958 and 1964; RCAHMS 1928; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1961.

Dun Cuier is a broch, 29 ft in internal diameter within a wall 16 ft thick with a scarcement 4 ft 6 ins above ground-level. A few of the small finds are typical of the main broch period at the turn of the eras. Evidence of later occupation sugests a period early in the 7th century AD.
MacKie (E W MacKie 1965) classifies this as a 'curious galleried dun'.
R W Feachem 1963; E W MacKie 1965.

The remains of this structure are as planned and described by Young. Visited by OS (W D J) 25 May 1965.

Bone dice found.
22. RMS GU 275. Two fragments possibly from the same piece.
a. Three dots enclosed by two concentric circles.
b. Parts of two dots enclosed by two concentric circles.
Found together in the peat ash of the central hearth.
23. RMS GU 276. One end damaged but apparently numbered 6 and 4. Dots enclosed by poorly executed rectangles. On '6' side the two groups of '3' possibly joined by a central line. 51 x 11mm.
24. RMS GU 277. One end damaged. Numbered 6, 4 and 1. The 1 and three dots of the '6' side enclosed by poorly executed rectangles. 52 x 10mm. 25. RMS GU 278. One end damaged but apparently numbered 6 and 4. Dots enclosed by poorly executed rectangles. On '6' side the two groups of '3' joined by a central line. 50 x 9mm.
23-25 found in spread of the peat ash around central hearth; Young (A Young 1958) regards them as part of a set.
26. RMS GU 279. One face numbered 4. Dots enclosed by two concentric circles. 55 x 13mm. To east of central hearth in spread of peat ash.
27. RMS GU 280. Badly damaged; some details obscured by restoration. Numbered 1 (? originally 3), 4 (? originally 6), 4, 5. Dots on '4' side enclosed by two concentric circles, dots on other sides show traces of enclosing single circles. From greasy earth of enclosure formed by inner wall.
D V Clarke 1970; E W Mackie 1971.

C59 (NF671035) Dun Cuier, excavated by Young (1955). The structure stands on a steep rocky hill commanding good views in all directions. It consists of a double-walled circular building about 19 m diam., with a narrow intramural galley, and a central living area about 9 m diam. Armit (1992: 34-38) has offered a plausible reinterpretation of the structure's history, which began as an ARH and had a much flimsier cellular structure inserted into its centre in the 6th or 7th century AD.
Branigan and Foster 2000, 36.

RCAHMS, 1928, The RCAHMCS 9th Report & Inventory: Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, 129 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5587.

A Young, 1955-6a, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 290-328 figs. 1-16, plans figs. 3-4, 6a (Bibliographic reference). SWE8434.

PSAS, 1958-9, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 120 (Bibliographic reference). SWE5217.

A Young, 1961-2, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 193, No. 49 (Bibliographic reference). SWE6988.

R W Feachem, 1963b, A Guide to Prehistoric Scotland, 163 (Bibliographic reference). SWE2141.

E W MacKie, 1965a, Proc Prehist Soc, 132 (Bibliographic reference). SWE4635.

PSAS, 1968-9, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 295, No. 22 (Bibliographic reference). SWE8440.

D V Clarke, 1970a, Proc Prehist Soc, 232, Nos. 22-7 (Bibliographic reference). SWE1063.

E W MacKie, 1971a, Glasgow Archaeol J, 70 (Bibliographic reference). SWE4650.

D V Clarke, 1971b, Scot Archaeol Forum, 50, No. 5 (Bibliographic reference). SWE1066.

L R Laing, 1975b, Brit Archaeol Rep, 13, 15, 31, 33 (Bibliographic reference). SWE3792.

L. R. Laing, 1975c, The Archaeology of Late Celtic Britain and Ireland c. 400-1200 AD, 86-7, 284, 301 (Bibliographic reference). SWE3794.

N and P Fojut and Love, 1980a, Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 42 (Bibliographic reference). SWE12889.

A Lane, 1987, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 55 (Bibliographic reference). SWE3842.

P G Topping, 1987, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 82 (Bibliographic reference). SWE7984.

Keith Branigan & Patrick Foster, 2000, From Barra to Berneray: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in the Southern Isles ... (Bibliographic reference). SWE41033.