Dun Beag Broch

One of the best preserved of Scotland's Iron Age brochs, Dun Beag is located on a rocky knoll a quarter-mile (0.5 km) northwest of Struan and a mile (1.4 km) west of Bracadale on the west coast of Skye. With dramatic views over Loch Bracadale, this circular structure is 18.3m (60 feet) in diameter, with massive stone walls that reach 4.3m (14 feet) in thickness and 1.5m (6 feet) in height, although these would originally have risen to more than 12m (40 feet). It probably dates from a few hundred years BC, but was re-occupied in Mediaeval times into the 18th century. Evidence of a gallery and a cell, together with a well-preserved stairway can still be seen, although the later structures have disappeared.

The broch was described by Pennant in his A Tour in Scotland (1776) and excavated between 1914-20 by amateur an archaeologist, the Austrian-born Countess Vincent Baillet de Latour, who was the widow of MacLeod of MacLeod but had continued to visit Skye after her remarriage. Finds include pottery, stone implements and utensils, a gold ring, bronze, iron and glass objects, a borer of bone, a pick made from an antler, and a stone cup. Several of these items would seem to be of Viking origin. There were also quantities of cattle and sheep bones and carbonised seeds, probably either oats or rye. Coins confirm the later re-occupation of the site, which is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

The larger but less well-preserved Dun Mor Broch is located a quarter-mile (0.4 km) to the north.


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