The narrow natural passage entrance to Dunadd in Kilmartin Glen, one of the most important sites in Scottish/Irish history. Built as a fortified farmstead 2,400yrs ago it became the royal capital of the earliest Scottish kingdom #DàlRiata #ArgllAndBute
Beyond the gate were houses & workshops working copper, lead, iron, gold & silver.
An important trading centre with goods such as rare minerals, pottery & glassware, Dunadd fell to Aengus in 736AD but still considered important & in the 1500s royal proclamations were read there
Dunadd is a single rock outcrop set in the flat bottom of the #Kilmartin Valley. On its upper slopes it was surrounded by stone ramparts - some can still be seen.
The view from the top is impressive - over the Mòine Mhòr bog towards the mountains of Arran & Jura.
Dunadd is a site chosen for defence & at a reasonable height above the valley on one of the lower levels, the remains of a well can still be seen.
At the top of Dunadd is the inauguration stone with footprints & carvings including a boar. Here the Gaelic kings were symbolically married to the land they were to rule. A large bowl has been carved into the rock next to the stone & may have been a part of the kingship rituals
Similar footprints to the Dunadd inauguration stone can be found outside Clickimin Broch on the shore of Clickimin Loch, Lerwick in Shetland.

The original Dunadd inauguration stone has been protected beneath a concrete replica since the 1970s
Amongst many incredible finds at Dunadd was a carved stone ball now in @kilmartinmuseum (sadly closed atm so here’s a few in @NtlMuseumsScot Coll. from a pre covid visit instead). These balls were carved mainly across the north east of Scotland up to 4000yrs ago
& that ends my thread on Dunadd which only leaves one last thing to do...

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