WHO CLIMBED THE BL**DY HILL? - More from the Tap o' Noth

Описание: WHO CLIMBED THE BL**DY HILL? - More from the Tap o' Noth
More from our trip to Tap o' Noth

The Tap o' Noth is a hill and fort, 8 miles south of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the second highest fort in Scotland and its main feature is its well-preserved vitrified wall which encloses an area of approximately 100 m by 30 m. Archaeological finds from the site include a stone axe head dated to between c. 2000 BC – c.800 BC, and a decorated bronze rein-ring dated to the 1st–3rd century AD. The site has been designated a scheduled ancient monument.

The vitrified fort is the centre of a settlement within another rampart which encloses a much larger area of some 7 hectares. This outer rampart was constructed in the fifth to sixth centuries AD; large scale settlement within the area may date back as far as the third century AD, contemporary with the Pictish culture.

Drone photographs and lidar surveys suggest that there may have been as many as 800 huts, many in groups with a larger hut at the centre of the group. It has been described as the largest known settlement in early post-Roman Britain.

In the nearby valley, the Pictish image of Rhynie Man on a standing stone has been found on Barflat farm. A post-Roman settlement has been discovered in the valley, with evidence for the consumption of wine from the Mediterranean, the use of glass vessels from western France, and intensive metalwork production. This is interpreted as signs of high social status, possibly with royal connections.

The distribution of the buildings suggests they are likely to have been built and occupied at a similar time as many are positioned alongside trackways or clustered together in groups. Drone surveys also showed that within these groups was one notably larger hut, indicating that there may have been some form of hierarchical organisation within the fort.

Lindsay has a selection of her photos on the web. Framed mounted or just the image. the link is on our About tab or in the channel banner and here:
https://lindsaybenison.picfair.com/

Please subscribe for more Donders, Waffles and some History as well as views and park ups

Currently we are Weekend Warriors. We may go full time in the future but for now we continue our explorations.

We are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram links are on the about page.