Broxy Kennels Fort, Souterrain and Surrounding Landscape, Perth

Archaeological excavation of almost the entirety of Broxy Kennels Fort to the north of Perth, was undertaken in advance of a new road development. It revealed a multivallate fortified settlement on a hill overlooking the River Tay. The fort constructed in the 6th century BC initially comprised two ditches that encircled the hill with a north-east entranceway that led to the interior.

Around the late 5th-early 4th centuries BC, parts of the settlement’s defences were altered to accommodate a souterrain constructed into one of the silted-up ditches. The alteration necessitated a further short ditch either side of the entrance, followed by a final outer ditch that encircled the hill. Other changes within the enclosure may also have occurred at this time with material from clearance of structures being dumped in the ditches.

After a short hiatus, an unenclosed settlement within the interior of the fort persisted from the 4th century BC until around the late 1st century AD. Other than traces of sporadic activity from the early medieval period to the post-medieval era, the site was to all intents and purposes lost to the plough.