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Balintuim is a small iron age dun situated 310 metres north-west of the settlement of Balintuim in Perthshire, Scotland. The monument is protected as a scheduled ancient monument under Historic Environment Scotland reference SM2860. Iron age duns of this period typically served as defended homesteads or strongholds for elite families, their livestock and retainers, reflecting the hierarchical societies of northern Britain during the first millennium before the Common Era.
The dun's location on Southern Highland Group bedrock, comprising psammite and pelite deposits formed during the Middle Cambrian period, places it within a landscape of ancient metamorphic geology typical of upland Perthshire. These durable rock types would have provided suitable building material for the dun's construction, whilst the undulating terrain afforded defensible positions for settlement.
The monument represents an important class of Iron Age settlement archaeology in the Scottish Highlands. Such duns characterised the material culture and social organisation of iron age communities across northern Britain, though their precise functions and the scale of occupation varied considerably. The survival of this example contributes to understanding settlement patterns and land use in Perthshire during this formative period of Scottish prehistory.
Balintuim,dun 310m NW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2860. View the official record →
Balintuim is a small iron age dun situated 310 metres north-west of the settlement of Balintuim in Perthshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2860.
Balintuim,dun 310m NW of dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a dun. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Balintuim,dun 310m NW of is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM2860.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Dunvorist,dun 180m S of (3.7 km), Lundin, stone circle and cup-marked stone 370m NNW of (4.2 km), Tomtayewen, dun (4.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Balintuim,dun 310m NW of's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Balintuim,dun 310m NW of stands on Southern Highland Group, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is psammite and pelite.