Trotternish

Trotternish is underlain by basalt, which provides relatively rich soils and a variety of unusual rock features. The Kilt Rock is named after the tartan-like patterns in the cliffs. The Quiraing is a spectacular series of rock pinnacles on the eastern side of the main spine of the peninsula and further south is the rock pillar of the Old Man of Storr. Trotternish is also known for its Middle Jurassic aged rocks (c. 174–164 million years old), which yield a variety of fossils including dinosaurs. These are strictly protected by law by the Skye Nature Conservation Order 2019. Dinosaurs known from Trotternish include theropods, sauropods, thyreophorans, and possible ornithopods. Many of Skye's dinosaur body fossils and footprints can be viewed at the Staffin Museum in Ellishadder, Staffin. The most accessible shoreline localities to view dinosaur footprints include Duntulm, Brother's Point, and An Corran. Conservation designations The north-eastern part of the peninsula around Quiraing is designated as the Trotternish National Scenic Area, one of the forty such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The designated area covers 7,919 ha in total, of which 6,128 ha is on land, with a further 1789 ha being marine (i.e. below low tide level, and covering the seas to the east of the peninsula). The entire length of the Trotternish escarpment is protected as a Special Area of Conservation under the Natura 2000 programme, and classified as a Category IV protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. ==History==

A Mesolithic hunter-gatherer site dating to the 7th millennium BC at in Staffin is one of the oldest archaeological sites in Scotland. The site continued to be used over many millennia with human bones radiocarbon-dated to the Neolithic (dated to around 3500 BC) and Bronze Age (dated to between 2560 and 2150 BC) periods and a copper-alloy pin from the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age being found, as well as more modern 19th-20th century materials. The ruined Duntulm Castle stands on a promontory at the northern end of the peninsula, near the hamlet of Duntulm. During the 17th century it was the seat of the chiefs of Clan MacDonald of Sleat, and is a scheduled monument. The castle is believed to stand on the site of a prehistoric broch or dun known as Dun David, or Dun Dhaibhidh, although no archaeological evidence has been found for this predecessor. The castle was built in the 14th and 15th centuries, when the area was subject to feuds between the rival MacLeod and Macdonald clans, and was abandoned around 1732, when Sir Alexander MacDonald built a new residence, Monkstadt House, to the south. commented that she was a woman of "soft features, gentle manners, and elegant presence". ==Gaelic==

In terms of number of speakers, Trotternish is the strongest Gaelic-speaking area of Skye. In the 2001 census, 61% of the population returned as Gaelic speakers, there are Gaelic-medium units in the Staffin and Kilmuir primary schools, and the area is the focus of one of Comunn na Gàidhlig's Gaelic development initiatives, Lasair. In 2010, Comunn na Gàidhlig named Staffin as their Gaelic Community of the Year. ==Transport==

The main road in Trotternish is the A87, which runs between Portree at the southern end of the peninsula and Uig on the northwest coast. Uig serves as the ferry terminal for Caledonian MacBrayne services to Tarbert on Harris and Lochmaddy on North Uist, providing links with the Outer Hebrides. ==Settlements in Trotternish==

• Achachork • Bornesketaig • Brogaig • Carbost • Culnacnoc • Digg • Duntulm • Earlish • Ellishadder • Eyre • Flodigarry • Garafad • Glasphein • Grealin • Hungladder • Kensaleyre • Kilmaluag • Kilmuir • Kilvaxter • Kingsburgh • Lealt • Marishader • Portree • Skeabost • Staffin • Toravaig • Tote • Uig ==Gallery==

File:Scotland Skye Trotternish.jpg|Blackhouse in The Skye Museum of Island Life on Trotternish File:The Storr by Grinner.jpg|The Storr File:Mealt Waterfall with Kilt Rock, Isle of Skye.jpg|Mealt waterfall at Ellishadder, with Kilt Rock behind ==Notes==