A fort dating from the late Iron Age, which are found in the west and the south-west of Scotland. It provided protection for a family or a small group. Similar in construction to a broch, a dun had a diameter of about 18 metres, and a narrow doorway angled through the dry stone wall, the walls were up to 4.5 metres thick. Usually circular or `D' shaped, they were frequently built on coastal headlands. The dun was different from hill forts mainly because of their smaller size and the complexity of their internal lodgings. See broch, hill fort. (Gaelic. d?n, fortress).
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