Some of the earliest references to Argyll’s Iron Age remains appear within the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Statistical Accounts of Scotland, these often appearing as descriptions of parish antiquities (Statistical Accounts of Scotland 1791-99 Volume 5 and 1834-45 Volume 7). These predominately mention ‘forts’, ‘castles’ or ‘watchtowers’, or other ‘ancient defences’ many only briefly mentioned if they were significant remains or had traditional tales attached to them, reflecting the close relationship of educated ecclesiastics and early antiquarianism.
The collecting, recording and reporting of antiquities was given a formal framework with the founding of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1780 and from 1856 provided a more systematic framework for reporting survey and excavation results in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (PSAS). The locations of many these defended sites were surveyed during the compilation of the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey maps, often accompanied by brief descriptions within the associated name books.
Area surveys of the forts and duns of Argyll appeared in PSAS from the late 19th century but sites were also reported within other publications. These include those in Lorne (Smith; 1871, 1872 and 1875, Christison 1889; Watson 1914), Mid Argyll (Currie 1830; Christison 1904, Graham 1948; Campbell and Sandeman 1962; Scott 1966) and Cowal (Honeymann 1890). Antiquities on the Argyll islands received similar attention with monuments noted on Bute (Hewison 1893), Coll and Tiree (Sands 1882; Beveridge 1903), Mull (Duns 1883; MacLean 1923), Luing, Seil and the Garvallachs (MacAdam 1896), Colonsay and Oransay (Stevenson 1881, Symington Grieve 1923; Piggott and Piggott 1948), Arran (MacArthur 1873), Gigha (Anderson 1939) and Islay (Childe 1935a). Much of this survey work informed the list or Inventory of Scotland’s surviving heritage compiled by the RCAHMS after its establishment in 1908. The RCAHMS published seven volumes covering Argyll, the first published in 1971 and the last completed in 1992. The RCAHMS volumes provided overall summaries of Argyll’s Iron Age in their respective areas, while broader syntheses of the period have been undertaken by other authors (Neike 1984; 1990; Ritchie 1997, Harding; 1997, 2004a; Armit 2004). The RCAHMS classifications adopted for forts, duns and enclosures, along with other possible sites dating to the Iron Age in the first volume has led to much discussion over their continued suitability and while the categories have enabled comparative analysis it has also conversely constrained discussion on other types of more ephemeral structures that may also be present in this period.
Attempts have also been made by various academics to culturally bracket the regions of Scotland in the Iron Age. Argyll for example, was seen by Gordon Childe as belonging to one of his ‘cultural groupings’ (Childe 1935b) while Stuart Piggott saw Argyll as a region within a larger Atlantic province (Piggott 1966). Some later researchers have argued for different definitions of these ‘provinces’. For example Hingley separated the Atlantic north and west from the rest of the country while Harding used a division of southern, central/eastern and Atlantic/Argyll in his synthesis of the period (Hingley 1992, Harding 2004a). While these schemes have been subject to later revision and criticism they have informed the debate on Argyll’s Iron Age and we now see the region as influenced by a broader Atlantic culture which continues to inform current discussions.