Dunadd (Scottish Gaelic Dún Ad, "fort on the [River] Add", Old Irish Dún Att) is a hillfort in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, dating from the Iron Age and early medieval period and is believed to be the capital of the ancient kingdom of Dál Riata. Dal Riata was a Gaelic kingdom spanning the northern Irish coast to Argyll and the Scottish islands in the early centuries AD, possibly after the Romans had abandoned Southern Britain and at the time when the Anglo-Saxons were crossing the North Sea to counter incursions over Hadrian's Wall by the Picts and Dalriadan Scots.
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👉 Dunadd in the context of Architecture of Scotland in the Middle Ages
The architecture of Scotland in the Middle Ages includes all building within the modern borders of Scotland, between the departure of the Romans from Northern Britain in the early fifth century and the adoption of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century, and includes vernacular, ecclesiastical, royal, aristocratic and military constructions. The first surviving houses in Scotland go back 9500 years. There is evidence of different forms of stone and wooden houses exist and earthwork hill forts from the Iron Age. The arrival of the Romans led to the abandonment of many of these forts. After the departure of the Romans in the fifth century, there is evidence of the building of a series of smaller "nucleated" constructions sometimes utilizing major geographical features, as at Dunadd and Dumbarton. In the following centuries new forms of construction emerged throughout Scotland that would come to define the landscape.
Medieval vernacular architecture utilised local building materials, including cruck constructed houses, turf walls, and clay, with a heavy reliance on stone. Medieval parish church architecture was typically simpler than in England, but there were grander ecclesiastical buildings in the Romanesque and Gothic styles. From the early fifteenth century, the introduction of Renaissance styles included the selective use of Romanesque forms in church architecture, as in the nave of Dunkeld Cathedral. Castles arrived in Scotland with the introduction of feudalism in the twelfth century. Initially these were wooden motte-and-bailey constructions, but many were replaced by stone castles with a high curtain wall. In the late Middle Ages, new castles were built, some on a grander scale, and others, particularly in the borders, as simpler tower houses. Gunpowder weaponry led to the use of gun ports, platforms to mount guns and walls adapted to resist bombardment. There was a phase of Renaissance palace building from the late fifteenth century, beginning at Linlithgow.
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Dunadd in the context of Dál Riata
Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) (/dælˈriːədə/) was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is now Argyll ("Coast of the Gaels") in Scotland and part of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. After a period of expansion, Dál Riata eventually became associated with the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba.
In Argyll, it consisted of four main kindreds or tribes, each with their own chief: the Cenél nGabráin (based in Kintyre), the Cenél nÓengusa (based on Islay), the Cenél Loairn (who gave their name to the district of Lorn) and the Cenél Comgaill (who gave their name to Cowal). The hillfort of Dunadd is believed to have been its capital. Other royal forts included Dunollie, Dunaverty and Dunseverick. Within Dál Riata was the important monastery of Iona, which played a key role in the spread of Celtic Christianity throughout northern Britain, and in the development of insular art. Iona was a centre of learning and produced many important manuscripts. Dál Riata had a strong seafaring culture and a large naval fleet.
Dunadd in the context of Petrosomatoglyph
A petrosomatoglyph is a supposed image of parts of a human or animal body in rock. They occur all over the world, often functioning as an important form of symbolism, used in religious and secular ceremonies, such as the crowning of kings. Some are regarded as artefacts linked to saints or culture heroes.
The word comes from the Greek πέτρα (petra, 'stone'), σῶμα (soma, 'body'), and γλύφειν (glyphein, 'to carve'). Feet are the most common; however, other features including knees, elbows, hands, heads and fingers are also found.