Pictish Progress

Driscoll, Stephen T.; Geddes, Jane; Hall, Mark A.

doi:10.1163/ej.9789004187597.i-384

Cited by 11 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In a post-Roman context, the Picts are referenced in early medieval Latin and vernacular sources by their neighbours, with the only historical sources that can be attributed to the Picts themselves being a problematic set of king-lists preserved in much later medieval manuscripts (Woolf 2007). The archaeological evidence for the Picts also presents some difficulties: compared with a rich Iron Age record, few settlements are known and artefact chronologies are poor (Driscoll 2011; Foster 2014). The so-called Pictish symbol-stones, however, represent an iconic element of the archaeological record—sculptured stones carved with distinctive symbols, some abstract, others naturalistic, including striking animal designs or objects such as mirrors and combs (Henderson & Henderson 2004: 167).…”

Section: The Picts and Their Symbolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: The Picts and Their Symbolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The role of geoarchaeology in the interpretation of fragmented buildings and occupation surfaces: The case of coastal settlements in northeast Scotland

Reid,

Milek,

O'Brien

et al. 2023

Geoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Around the world, poorly preserved buildings and occupation deposits often represent the primary evidence for archaeological structures and settlements. Integrated geoarchaeological methods, such as soil chemistry and micromorphology, can be used to maximise the information obtained from such deposits regarding site preservation and the use of space. However, archaeologists are often reluctant to apply these methods if they suspect that preservation is poor or stratigraphy is not visible in the field. To assess the role that geoarchaeology can play in the interpretation of fragmented and poorly preserved structures, this paper presents the results of two case studies in which multiple geoarchaeological methods (microrefuse analysis, pH, electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, loss‐on‐ignition, portable XRF and micromorphology) were applied to poorly preserved occupation deposits and fragmented buildings in early medieval coastal settlements in northeast Scotland. Micromorphology proved to be fundamental for recognising and understanding the composition of occupation deposits that had formerly been floor surfaces. It also aided interpretations for the use of space and maintenance practices and improved an understanding of the post‐depositional processes that had affected stratigraphic visibility at the macroscale. When subjected to principal component analysis, the geochemical, magnetic and microrefuse data were able to provide new details about activity areas, and successfully identified and filtered out the effects of post‐medieval contamination. Most significantly, the integrated approach demonstrates that fragmented buildings and poorly preserved occupation surfaces can retain surviving characteristics of the use of space, even if the floor surfaces were not preserved well enough to be clearly defined in the field or in thin section.

show abstract

Open or Enclosed: Settlement Patterns and Hillfort Construction in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, 1800bc–ad1000

Cook¹

2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents a synthetic précis of enclosed and unenclosed settlement in Aberdeenshire over an extended period of study encompassing the later prehistoric and early medieval periods (1800 bc–ad 1000) where the perceived boundary between prehistory and history is of limited significance. The results will then be placed in a wider Scottish context, with a brief discussion of the changing nature of enclosure within the study area.A recent upsurge in research, development, and survey work has, in particular, drawn renewed attention to a discrete cluster of around 20 hillforts in the Strathdon area, which lie well beyond Cunliffe's Hillfort Dominated Zones. In general, the settlement record is predominantly unenclosed but, in the first half of the 1st millennium bc the Strathdon area appears to reflect wider UK trends: there are relatively few hillforts and they appear to be aimed at communal gatherings. Their direct use in conflict appears to have been rare and their ‘defences’ perhaps marked a neutral zone rather than fortification. A putative increase in the volume of agricultural surplus may have led to increased social competition and eventually conflict. After c. 500 bc a variety of local factors influence hillfort design and there is an increase in their number and variability, before the emergence of a single dominant form from Northern Fife to Inverness, and then an abandonment of enclosure until the early medieval period. The current evidence indicates that hillforts were abandoned before the Roman incursions, perhaps by several hundred years and, while they may have been re-occupied, there is as yet no evidence for refortification. In contrast during the early medieval period hillforts appear to have been more actively used in both settlement and conflict. They may relate to a period of expansion amongst local competing polities and the cessation of their construction in the 7th century ad may be connected with the emergence of larger regional power structures.

show abstract

Pictish Progress

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

The role of geoarchaeology in the interpretation of fragmented buildings and occupation surfaces: The case of coastal settlements in northeast Scotland

Open or Enclosed: Settlement Patterns and Hillfort Construction in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, 1800bc–ad1000

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About