This volume explores the results of archaeological research undertaken at the world-renowned Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland, focusing on the castle’s medieval remnants.

Now hard to believe, Eilean Donan Castle was once one of the largest castles in the west Highlands, known to have featured seven towers, the remains of which lie buried on the island. This book provides a refreshed view of the lost medieval guise of the castle, of its 13th-century origins and form, and of who was responsible for building it, allowing the castle to be positioned accurately in the complex dynamics of powerholding and display of the earls of Ross and associated militarized kindreds of the west Highlands during six centuries of change up to the castle’s destruction in 1719.

A new history and the details of the below-ground archaeology allow us to see the lost medieval castle in our mind’s eye 500 years after it vanished. Focusing on the huge amount of archaeological material unearthed during the campaign shows the castle hosted master craftspeople including goldsmiths, shipwrights and hereditary swordsmiths. Exquisite personal items, decorative mail armor and weapons, musical instruments, gaming pieces, imported pottery and animal bones bring the castle and its inhabitants back to life.

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of tables
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1. Welcome to Eilean Donan Castle
  • Introduction
    • What lies beneath?
    • Site and setting
  • Before the castle – Eilean Donan in prehistory
• Chapter 2. The history of the castle, by Richard Oram
  • A short history
    • Origins: the castle in the 13th century
    • The Earls of Ross in the northwest Highlands and Islands: the 14th century
    • Clann Domhnaill (MacDonald), Clann Coinnich (MacKenzies) and the Scottish king: the 15th century
    • Clann Coinnich (MacKenzies) have the castle: the 16th century
  • The Civil War in the Highlands: the 17th century
  • Going out in a blaze of glory
• Chapter 3. The anatomy of the lost castle
  • Castle preparation
  • The South Outer Ward
    • South Curtain Wall and the Watchtower
  • The North Outer Ward
    • The Northwest Tower
    • North Curtain Wall and the Northeast Tower
    • West Curtain Wall and the Seaward Tower
    • The Service building and primary midden F57/9
    • The Hall range and spread midden C1108
    • East Curtain Wall and possible gatehouse stance
  • The late medieval castle
    • The Smithy
  • The 16th century castle
    • The lime kiln
    • Evidence for the cultivation of the North Outer Ward
  • Reconstruction of the castle
    • Tracks and the castle midden
    • The wall-chasing trenches
• Chapter 4. The rich tapestry of castle life
  • Structural metalwork
  • Household items
  • The castle at play, by Mark A. Hall
  • Music at the castle
  • Personal items, with a contribution by Mark A. Hall
  • Arms and armour
  • Animal equipment
  • The metal-working assemblages
  • Conclusion
• Chapter 5. The Seaven Tours: understanding Eilean Donan Castle
  • Why that? Why there? Why then?
  • Rediscovering the Seaven Tours
  • Dating the sequence
  • Craft in the castle
    • The Goldsmiths or cerda
    • The swordsmiths
    • The shipwrights
  • Envoi: Eilean Donan Castle as a celebration of medieval Gaelic culture
• Chapter 6. Digest of evidence
  • Details of the archaeological campaign
  • The lithics, by Rob Young
  • The pottery, by Derek Hall & Torbjörn Brorsson
  • The animal remains, by Matilda Holmes
  • The charred plant assemblage from midden heap F57/59, by John Carrott
  • The coins, by Craig Barclay
  • Archaeometallurgical analysis, by Kamal Badreshany
• Bibliography