Mystery of Glen Nevis vitrified hill fort will be revealed
THE excavation of Dun Deardail, a vitrified hill fort in Glen Nevis, will open to the public this Saturday, August 19, with a family-friendly archaeological festival.
Vitrified forts such as Dun Deardail are considered some of the most mysterious structures in the UK. To vitrify means to convert something into glass or make something glass-like.
Vitrified forts are not held together with lime or mortar. Instead, their composite stones have been welded together under incredible heat – more than 1,000 degrees Celsius. No- one knows why – or even how – Iron Age settlers vitrified their stone walls.
Andy Heald, managing director of AOC archaeology, said: ‘Some people think vitrification was a status symbol, some people think a settlement would be set alight and inadvertently vitrified in the process by attackers and some people think it’s a structural thing to do with strengthening the walls of the fort.
‘The bottom line is, we’ll never know. That’s what’s nice about archaeology – different people come away with different interpretations about the history of Dun Deardail.’
Archaeologists have tried to vitrify their own forts, and have largely failed. This has lead some people to suspect the use of now-lost pyrotechnics, such as the mysterious Greek fire, which could burn on water or be spat out by archaic flame-throwers.
Vitrified forts also bear symbolic significance. Scotland has one of the highest densities of vitrified forts and it appears that they are to be found in Celtic areas.
There is evidence that vitrified forts were used and reused into the Dark Ages and it has been suggested that the glass fortresses of Celtic legend and Arthurian romance tenuously refer to these mysterious structures.
Furthermore, Matthew Ritchie, a Forestry Commission archaeologist, has linked Dun Deardail to Deirdre, the foremost tragic heroine in Irish legend, who eloped to Scotland, before being tricked back. Her story can be explored in a new outdoor learning resource on the site.
The festival will include Pictish arts and crafts, ancient story-telling, open-fire cooking and shuttle trips to the dig site, so visitors can see archaeology in action.