Castlehill Wood (re-)Dun: Reinterpreting a Stirling Oddity
By (author) Murray Cook
Paperback (Published)
(June 2026)
ISBN: 9781805833000
7.99 x 10.91 inches
Price: $30.00
In stock
This paper reinterprets Feachem’s 1950s excavation of Castlehill Wood dun, revealing a roofed pre‑Roman structure with cells and galleries linked to wider Iron Age architectural and ritual traditions. It also republishes artefact reviews from West Plean Homestead and Gallow Hill, clarifying Stirling’s complex settlement history.
This volume reinterprets Richard Feachem’s 1950s excavation of Castlehill Wood dun, Stirling via key‑hole excavation of in situ baulks and re-analysis of the object assemblage, placing the results in context. The works transform our understanding of the site from a simple enclosure to a roofed structure with an awareness of architectural trends across Scotland. The site is demonstrated to have been built prior to the Roman invasion and suggests a complex settlement pattern that should not be viewed solely in the light of the Roman incursions. Finally, the structure contains a series of small cells and galleries that find parallels across Scotland and might be linked to Iron Age ritual practices. The opportunity has also been taken to publish reviews of the artefacts from two other older excavations from the Stirling area: West Plean Homestead and Gallow Hill lava quern. In each case a proposed fieldwork phase never happened due to circumstances beyond the control of the author.
Introduction
Location and Background
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: A Re-Assessment of Artefacts from West Plean Homestead – Gemma Cruickshanks and Fraser Hunter
Appendix 2: A Roman Lava Quern from an Iron Age Site at Gallow Hill, Stirling – Fraser Hunter and Gemma Cruickshanks
References
Murray Cook graduated from the archaeology department in Edinburgh in 1995 and has since worked across Northern Britain in a variety of roles in commercial and curatorial archaeology. He is currently employed as Stirling Council’s Archaeologist giving archaeological advice to Stirling, Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and North Lanarkshire Councils. In 2015 he gained a PhD from Edinburgh for a study of the later prehistoric settlement record of the Don Valley in Aberdeenshire, combining key-hole excavation with commercial mitigation excavations.
He has conducted research excavations into later prehistoric settlement sites in Stirling, East Lothian and Aberdeenshire and is the co-founder and co-director of Rampart Scotland, an archaeological field school. He regularly hosts student placements and is keen to hear from interested individuals.
He is passionate about public engagement with archaeology and regularly runs free excavations, walks, lectures and other active engagement with the public, the details of which are presented in a regular and informal blog called Stirling Archaeology.
- By (author) Murray Cook
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