Dunstaffnage Castle, Argyll & Bute: excavations in the north tower and east range, 1987-94

Abstract

Reports excavations in areas thought to encompass the donjon and hall respectively. Traces of an early curtain wall predating the north tower were found. At ground level, two window embrasures were revealed in the east wall of the building and, on its south side, a doorway into a passage linking with the east range. In the late seventeenth or eighteenth century the passage was blocked and a fireplace inserted into the north gable of the east range, which was occupied at least until the late eighteenth century. There are specialist reports on: `Sculptured stones' by Pamela Graves (576--8); `Coins' by Nicholas M McQ Holmes (578--9); `Other small finds' by David Caldwell (579--87); `Pottery' by Helen Smith (587 & 589) followed by `Medieval and post-medieval pottery' by Robert S Will (589--90); `Clay tobacco pipes' by Dennis B Gallagher (590--6); `Vessel glass' by K R Murdoch (596--7); The environmental evidence begins with `Charcoal' by Sheila Boardman (597), followed by `Faunal remains' by Tanya O'Sullivan & Jennifer Thoms (597--8).