The Dun Deardail project

The vitrified hillfort of Dun Deardail (Derdriu’s fort) sits high above Glen Nevis, overshadowed by Ben Nevis looming opposite.

Built around 2,500 years ago – in the middle of the first millennium BC – it was destroyed in a catastrophic fire. Recent archaeological excavation has investigated both the terraced interior and its imposing ramparts.

The Dun Deardail project is part of the ambitious Nevis Landscape Partnership. Funded by us and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, in partnership with AOC Archaeology and the University of Stirling.

Archaeologists have investigated:

• the possible entrance to the fort
• the techniques of rampart construction (and its destruction)
• the nature of occupation within the hillfort by looking for evidence of houses, hearths and workshops

The results will inform ongoing conservation management regarding visitor pressure. Particularly, access pinch points and visitor erosion on the ramparts and flanks of the hillfort.

The project also aims to help deliver Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy by:

• encouraging public engagement,
• providing volunteer training opportunities
• opening up archaeological learning opportunities for local schools

The process of vitrification occurs when a timber-framed drystone rampart is destroyed by fire. With temperatures reaching over 1000° C, the heat from the blaze begins to melt the rubble core of the rampart. As the burning rampart collapses, the rocks first fracture and then become liquid. When the fire burns out and the rampart finally cools, the burnt and molten rocks form large blocks of conglomerated stone.

In this booklet, you will learn the secrets of this first-ever excavation of Dun Deardail. Learn about its construction and destruction, occupation and abandonment. It is also a record of an extraordinary project and some of the people who participated in it.

The wonderful thing about archaeology is that, for all the forensic investigation and laboratory analysis, we still need to use our imagination to recreate the past. This is made easier with archaeological reconstruction drawings and by using historical sources.

The Sorrow of Derdiu is a famous Celtic myth linking dramatic events in Iron Age Ulster to an unnamed Scottish hillfort. We have used the myth to explore the one thing we knew for sure about Dun Deardail (‘Derdriu’s fort’), that it was once destroyed by fire. We still do not know whether the fire was deliberate or accidental. We now have a better idea of when the fort was built. Radiocarbon dates indicate construction around 500 BC.

The narrative of the story can be read in our Sorrow of Derdriu poster, illustrated by Alan Braby and retold by Matt Ritchie.