Pictish hill fort

[Venusian Broon]

This popped up in my feed. I wonder what has been discovered recently, because I'm pretty sure that fortification on the top of the hill has been noticed for a while!

However it is a large 'castle/fort'. It's amazing that people lived up on those hills getting stuff up there, such as water would have been painful, although the plains around about look fertile enough to support a large population.

 

[JNG01]

Very cool!

 

[Boaz]

I just saw the video and came here to post it... well done, VB.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Here's the BBC news reporting of it:

Ancient Tap O' Noth hillfort in Aberdeenshire one of 'largest ever'

Archaeologists say up to 4,000 people may have lived in more than 800 huts perched high on the Tap O' Noth.

www.bbc.co.uk

The fort overlooks Rhynie, which is already known to be a major Pictish center, with evidence of a big settlement there along with a couple of carved Pictish standing stones recovered.

Actually, the big surprise is that Tap O' Noth wasn't already connected with Rhynie, but presumably Gordon Noble already suspected a connection, hence why he excavated there - after all, the Picts is his major specialization.

 

[Ursa major]

I've only looked at a short section of the video that VB has embedded in his post, but I was rather taken aback by the description of Burghead Fort as being a vast citadel "surrounded by housing and farmland", while the image on the screen (of what the fort might have been like in its heyday) was of a citadel surrounded, on three sides, by the sea.

(Given that we're dealing with archeologists, perhaps the "surrounding" was "ceremonial" or "ritual".... )

 

[sknox]

>the Picts is his major specialization
So, you're saying he pict them?
Sensible. After all, as has long ago been observed: picts is picts.

(which way is the door, again?)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Actually, I should have said that the Picts is one of his specialties, in that he's been involved with the Northern Picts project with Aberdeen - I'm currently reading his book on the subject, which is more a series of essays summarizing work to date since Alex Woolf's seminal work:

The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce eBook : Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas, Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce eBook : Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas, Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas: Amazon.co.uk: Books

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[svalbard]

Actually, I should have said that the Picts is one of his specialties, in that he's been involved with the Northern Picts project with Aberdeen - I'm currently reading his book on the subject, which is more a series of essays summarizing work to date since Alex Woolf's seminal work:

The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce eBook : Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas, Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce eBook : Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas, Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas: Amazon.co.uk: Books

www.amazon.co.uk

I used to interact with Alex Woolf on the King Arthur page on Facebook a while back when I used Facebook. Had some good discussions. A really good scholar. He wouldn't remember me but I found his insight fascinating.

 

[CTRandall]

Actually, I should have said that the Picts is one of his specialties, in that he's been involved with the Northern Picts project with Aberdeen - I'm currently reading his book on the subject, which is more a series of essays summarizing work to date since Alex Woolf's seminal work:

The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce eBook : Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas, Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce eBook : Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas, Noble, Gordon, Evans, Nicholas: Amazon.co.uk: Books

www.amazon.co.uk

I'd appreciate it if you could post a review when you're finished, as this looks like something I'd be interested in.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I'd appreciate it if you could post a review when you're finished, as this looks like something I'd be interested in.

I post reviews of everything I read on Amazon and GoodReads: Brian Turner's review of King in the North

Rather than a general popular book about the Picts, this is a series of essays about the more recent state of studies into the Picts by subject, accompanied by various site diagrams.

In that regards it presents both an interesting catch-up on Pictish studies since Alex Woolf's seminal work the previous decade, but the essays do repeat each other a little and the in-depth explanation of excavation sites means it probably isn't for casual readers.

Overall, a great book about research into the Picts, and it's good to see how much the subject is developing. On the other hand, it's also plain there's not much money going into Pictish archaeology, with major sites still not properly investigated. Also, somewhat annoying that AD and BC are printed in lower case which caused some confusion at first.

The caveat is that it's not written as a popular book, and it can get bogged down in the details. However, if you skip read what doesn't interest you then there are some great summarizes (especially at the start and the end) of what the Picts actually were and represented as a people.

 

[Brian G Turner]

And here's Gordon Noble himself discussing it:

How aerial technology helped us discover the largest Pictish settlement in Scotland

Recent excavations reveal that what was once thought to be a Bronze Age fort is actually much younger, and produce evidence of a huge settlement that was home to 4,000 people.

theconversation.com

 

[Brian G Turner]

Interesting! In his Northern Picts group on Facebook, Gordon Noble just mentioned that his book, The King in the North, released last May, has sold 2,713 copies.

I thought archaeology books would sell more than that. Then again, maybe the Picts is a very niche subject...

 

[Ambrose]

When I was wee we went on several holidays to Rhynie. There I was told all about Jock O'Noth, who lived on the Tap O'Noth, and spent his days throwing rocks at Jack O'Bennachie, and he at him - hence all the standing stones scattered throughout Aberdeenshire.