Dalry

Aitnock Fort at the south-west angle of Hindog Glen, was excavated by John Smith in 1901-02, it showed a possible dun occupying the summit of a cliff which rises about 60 feet (18 m) perpendicularly from the Rye Water. He stated in his Excavations of the forts of Castlehill, Aitnock and Coalhill, Ayrshire, that it was defended on one side by the steep drop to the Rye and by a horseshoe shaped deep ditch and stone walls. The interior was about 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter, the floor had been leveled, then covered with yellow clay over which a pavement of rough slabs and river pebbles had been laid. On the pavement was an accumulation of deposits, in some places 6 inches (150 mm) deep, in and on which the relics were found… coins, stone objects, a glass bead, 1st- or 2nd-century Samian bowl fragments, burnt bones and iron objects.A sandstone cauldron was found near the centre of the interior, close by was a fireplace of slabs set on edge; this, he states, was possibly used to heat the water in the cauldron. An irregular lump of sandstone was also found, bearing two chiseled cup marks one on each side, almost opposite each other. During his excavations he found four silver Roman coins, all denarii, two of Antoninus Pius and one each of Vespasian and Hadrian, all of which came from parts of an upper black layer of occupation. Smith’s collection of this material was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in 1981. At Courthill excavations were undertaken by Cochrane-Patrick (1878) & Dobie (1876) in the 1870s. The remains of a timber hall similar to those in England dated to around the 8th century were found. These digs refer to a timber hall or court structure with a turf roof, that was then replaced by a motte (a structure on a hill) similar to those used by the early Normans infiltrating the area then. Amongst the debris a flint arrow head from an even earlier period was found.