1.
Megalith
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A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. The word megalithic describes structures made of large stones without the use of mortar or concrete. For later periods, the monolith, with an overlapping meaning, is more likely to be used. The word megalith comes from the Ancient Greek μέγας and λίθος, megalith also denotes an item consisting of rock hewn in definite shapes for special purposes. It has been used to describe buildings built by people from parts of the world living in many different periods. A variety of stones are seen as megaliths, with the most widely known megaliths not being sepulchral. The construction of these took place mainly in the Neolithic and continued into the Chalcolithic. At a number of sites in eastern Turkey, large ceremonial complexes from the 9th millennium BC have been discovered and they belong to the incipient phases of agriculture and animal husbandry. Large circular structures involving carved megalithic orthostats are a feature, e. g. at Nevalı Çori. Although these structures are the most ancient megalithic structures known so far, at Göbekli Tepe, four stone circles have been excavated from an estimated 20. Some measure up to 30 metres across, as well as human figures, the stones carry a variety of carved reliefs depicting boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions. Dolmens and standing stones have been found in areas of the Middle East starting at the Turkish border in the north of Syria close to Aleppo. They can be encountered in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, the largest concentration can be found in southern Syria and along the Jordan Rift Valley, however they are being threatened with destruction. They date from the late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age, megaliths have also been found on Kharg Island and pirazmian in Iran, at Barda Balka in Iraq, and at Jaintapur in Bangladesh. A semicircular arrangement of megaliths was found in Israel at Atlit Yam and it is a very early example, dating from the 7th millennium BC. The most concentrated occurrence of dolmens in particular is in an area on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley, with greater predominance on the eastern side. They occur first and foremost on the Golan Heights, the Hauran, and in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia, only very few dolmen have been identified so far in the Hejaz. They seem, however, to re-emerge in Yemen in small numbers, the standing stone has a very ancient tradition in the Middle East, dating back from Mesopotamian times
2.
Chamber tomb
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A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one family or social group and were used over long periods for multiple burials. There are numerous terms for them depending on the period, design, most were constructed from large stones or megaliths and covered by cairns, barrows or earth, but the term is also applied to rock-cut tombs and wooden-chambered tombs covered with earth barrows. Grave goods are a characteristic of chamber tomb burials. In Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe, stone-built examples of burials are known by the generic term of megalithic tombs. Chamber tombs are often distinguished by the layout of their chambers and entrances or the shape and material of the structure that covered them, a wide variety of local types has been identified, and some designs appear to have influenced others. Mycenaean chamber tomb V-shaped passage grave Cruciform passage grave Clava cairn Other types, Domus de Janas Dysser Medway tomb Shaft and chamber tomb Piccolo, ancient Stones, The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily
3.
Chambered cairn
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A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves and they are found throughout Britain and Ireland, with the largest number in Scotland. Typically, the chamber is larger than a cist, and will contain a number of interments. Most were situated near a settlement, and served as that communitys graveyard, during the early Neolithic architectural forms are highly regionalised with timber and earth monuments predominating in the east and stone-chambered cairns in the west. During the later Neolithic massive circular enclosures and the use of grooved ware, Scotland has a particularly large number of chambered cairns, they are found in various different types described below. However the increasing use of cropmarks to identify Neolithic sites in lowland areas has tended to diminish the relative prominence of these cairns. In the early phases bones of numerous bodies are found together and it has been argued that this suggests that in death at least. The Clyde or Clyde-Carlingford type are found in northern and western Ireland. They first were identified as a group in the Firth of Clyde region. Over 100 have been identified in Scotland alone, lacking a significant passage, they are a form of gallery grave. These forecourts are typically fronted by large stones and it is thought the area in front of the cairn was used for rituals of some kind. The chambers were created from stones set on end, roofed with large flat stones. They are generally considered to be the earliest in Scotland, the Orkney-Cromarty group is by far the largest and most diverse. It has been subdivided into Yarrows, Camster and Cromarty subtypes, the design is of dividing slabs at either side of a rectangular chamber, separating it into compartments or stalls. The number of these compartments ranges from 4 in the earliest examples to over 24 in an example on Orkney. The actual shape of the cairn varies from simple designs to elaborate forecourts protruding from each end. It is likely that these are the result of influences from mainland Europe, as they are similar to designs found in France. Examples include Midhowe on Rousay and Unstan Chambered Cairn from the Orkney Mainland, when the latter was excavated in 1884, grave goods were found that gave their name to Unstan ware pottery
4.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
5.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
6.
Common Era
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Common Era or Current Era is a year-numbering system for the Julian and Gregorian calendars that refers to the years since the start of this era, i. e. since AD1. The preceding era is referred to as before the Common or Current Era, the Current Era notation system can be used as a secular alternative to the Dionysian era system, which distinguishes eras as AD and BC. The two notation systems are equivalent, thus 2017 CE corresponds to AD2017 and 400 BCE corresponds to 400 BC. The year-numbering system for the Gregorian calendar is the most widespread civil calendar used in the world today. For decades, it has been the standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations. The expression has been traced back to Latin usage to 1615, as vulgaris aerae, the term Common Era can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish academics. He attempted to number years from a reference date, an event he referred to as the Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, numbering years in this manner became more widespread in Europe with its usage by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, in 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The first use of the Latin term vulgaris aerae discovered so far was in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler, Kepler uses it again in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again in 1617. A1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English – so far, a 1701 book edited by John LeClerc includes Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,6. A1716 book in English by Dean Humphrey Prideaux says, before the beginning of the vulgar æra, a 1796 book uses the term vulgar era of the nativity. The first so-far-discovered usage of Christian Era is as the Latin phrase aerae christianae on the page of a 1584 theology book. In 1649, the Latin phrase æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac, a 1652 ephemeris is the first instance so-far-found for English usage of Christian Era. The English phrase common Era appears at least as early as 1708, a 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to the common era of the Jews. The first-so-far found usage of the phrase before the era is in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era, the Catholic Encyclopedia in at least one article reports all three terms being commonly understood by the early 20th century. Thus, the era of the Jews, the common era of the Mahometans, common era of the world
7.
Bronze Age
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The Bronze Age is a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by smelting its own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or by trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Copper-tin ores are rare, as reflected in the fact there were no tin bronzes in Western Asia before trading in bronze began in the third millennium BC. Worldwide, the Bronze Age generally followed the Neolithic period, with the Chalcolithic serving as a transition, although the Iron Age generally followed the Bronze Age, in some areas, the Iron Age intruded directly on the Neolithic. Bronze Age cultures differed in their development of the first writing, according to archaeological evidence, cultures in Mesopotamia and Egypt developed the earliest viable writing systems. The overall period is characterized by use of bronze, though the place and time of the introduction. Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production techniques, tin must be mined and smelted separately, then added to molten copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of use of metals. The dating of the foil has been disputed, the Bronze Age in the ancient Near East began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy and mathematics, the usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used. Instead, a division based on art-historical and historical characteristics is more common. The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people, ur in the Middle Bronze Age and Babylon in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The earliest mention of Babylonia appears on a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 23rd century BC, the Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over 100 years later, it took over the other city-states. Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, by that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use. Elam was an ancient civilization located to the east of Mesopotamia, in the Old Elamite period, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a role in the Gutian Empire and especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it
8.
Argyll
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Argyll, archaically Argyle, is an ancient shire of western Scotland. At present, Argyll is one of the counties of Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the ancient kingdom of Dál Riata, Argyll was also a medieval bishopric with its cathedral at Lismore, as well as an early modern earldom and dukedom, the Dukedom of Argyll. Between 1890 and 1975, Argyll was a county with a county council, there was an Argyllshire constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 until 1983. The name derives from Old Gaelic airer Goídel, however, the word airer naturally carries the meaning of the word coast when applied to maritime regions, so the placename can also be translated as Coast of Gaels. The mainland area, renamed Airer Goídel, would have contrasted with the islands of Innse Gall. They were referred to this way because during the 9th to 12th centuries, the first record of Argyll as a shire dates from 1326, when a sheriff was appointed. At that time the shire covered a larger area than the later county. It included the islands which later formed Buteshire, which became a shire by 1388. It also included the area of Ross-shire, which was separated from Argyll by an act of 1503, between 1890 and 1975, Argyll had a county council. Argylls neighbouring counties were Inverness-shire, Perthshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire are on the other side of the Firth of Clyde. Bute is a county of islands in the firth, the county town of Argyll was historically Inveraray, which is still the seat of the Duke of Argyll. Lochgilphead later claimed to be the county town, as the seat of government for the county from the 19th century. Neither town was the largest settlement geographically, nor in terms of population, argylls largest towns were Oban, Dunoon and Campbeltown. The island of Egg or Eigg was already in Inverness-shire, the use of the County of Argyll for local government purposes ceased in 1975 with its area being split between Highland and Strathclyde Regions. A local government district called Argyll and Bute was formed in the Strathclyde region, including most of Argyll, the Ardnamurchan, Ardgour, Ballachulish, Duror, Glencoe, Kinlochleven and Morvern areas of Argyll were detached to become parts of Lochaber District, in Highland. They remained in Highland following the 1996 revision, in 1996 a new unitary council area of Argyll and Bute was created, with a change in boundaries to include part of the former Strathclyde district of Dumbarton. There was an Argyllshire constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801, the Argyll and Bute constituency was created when the Argyll constituency was abolished
9.
Dumfries and Galloway
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Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It comprises the counties of Dumfriesshire, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Wigtownshire. The administrative centre is the town of Dumfries, following the 1975 reorganisation of local government in Scotland, the three counties were joined to form a single region of Dumfries and Galloway, with four districts within it. Act 1994, however, it has become a local authority. For lieutenancy purposes, the counties are largely maintained with its three lieutenancy areas being Dumfries, Wigtown and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. To the north, Dumfries and Galloway borders East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire, in the east the Borders, and to the south the county of Cumbria in England, to the west lies the Irish Sea. The Dumfries and Galloway Council region is composed of counties and their sub-areas, Dumfries and Galloway covers the majority of the Western area of the Southern Uplands, it also hosts Scotlands most Southerly point, at the Mull of Galloway in the west of the region. This road leaves the A714 at Bargrennan, Water of Ken and River Dee form a corridor through the hills called the Glenkens which carries the A713 road from Castle Douglas to Ayr. The Galloway Hills lie to the west of route through the hills. River Nith rises between Dalmellington and New Cumnock in Ayrshire and runs east then south down Nithsdale to Dumfries, Nithsdale carries both the A76 road and the rail line from Dumfries to Kilmarnock. It separates the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills from the Lowther Hills which lie east of the Nith and this gap through the hills separates the Lowthers from the Moffat Hills. River Esk enters the Solway Firth just south of Gretna having travelled south from Langholm, the A7 travels up Eskdale as far as Langholm and from Langholm carries on up the valley of Ewes Water to Teviothead where it starts to follow the River Teviot to Hawick. Eskdale itself heads north west from Langholm through Bentpath and Eskdalemuir to Ettrick, the A701 branches off the M74 at Beattock, goes through the town of Moffat, climbs to Annanhead above the Devils Beef Tub before passing the source of the River Tweed and carrying on to Edinburgh. Until fairly recent times the ancient route to Edinburgh travelled right up Annandale to the Beef Tub before climbing steeply to Annanhead, the present road ascends northward on a ridge parallel to Annandale but to the west of it which makes for a much easier ascent. From Moffat the A708 heads north east along the valley of Moffat Water on its way to Selkirk, moffatdale separates the Moffat hills from the Ettrick hills to the south. There are three National Scenic Areas within this region, Nith Estuary - This area follows the River Nith southward from just south of Dumfries into the Solway Firth. His mausoleum is in St Michaels graveyard, criffel offers the hill walker a reasonably modest walk with excellent views across the Solway to the Lake District. The house of John Paul Jones founder of the American Navy is also open to visitors near Kirkbean, East Stewartry - This takes in the coast line from Balcary Point eastward across Auchencairn Bay and the Rough Firth past Sandyhills to Mersehead
10.
Firth of Clyde
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The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. Within the Firth of Clyde is another major island - the Isle of Bute, given its strategic location, at the entrance to the middle/upper Clyde, Bute played a vitally important military role during World War II. The Firths climate enjoys the benefit of the Gulf Stream from America, at its entrance the firth is some 26 miles wide. Its upper reaches include an area where it is joined by Loch Long and this includes the large anchorage off Greenock known as the Tail of the Bank in reference to the sandbar which separates the firth from the estuary of the River Clyde. The Clyde is still almost 2 miles wide at the sandbar, in Scottish Gaelic the landward end is called Linne Chluaidh, while the area around the south of Arran, Kintyre and Ayrshire/Galloway is An Linne Ghlas. The Firth encompasses many Islands and Peninsulas and has ferry routes connecting them to the mainland. Sometimes called the Clyde Waters, this body is customarily considered an element of the Irish Sea. The ferry services are run by Caledonian MacBrayne and by Western Ferries, a great number of sea lochs adjoin the Firth, the largest being Loch Fyne. The Cowal peninsula extends into the Firth of Clyde and forms the upper firth west shoreline. The main town on the Cowal peninsula is Dunoon and these routes across the Firth of Clyde save time, rather than traveling round by road, via Loch Eck side, the Rest and be thankful and Loch Lomond side. The service between Dunoon and Gourock in Inverclyde, operated by the Caledonian MacBrayne subsidiary Argyll Ferries LTD is a passenger only service. This service connects directly with the ScotRail service to Glasgow, Western Ferries LTD operate the service between Hunters Quay and McInroys Point near Gourock and carry all types of vehicular transport and foot passengers. This lists the towns and some of the numerous villages along the firth. There are many islands in the firth, the largest all have thriving communities and regular ferry services connecting them to the mainland. They are, Arran Bute Cumbrae The Clyde formed an important sea route from the earliest times, and the Battle of Largs in 1263 marked the turning point for the end of Viking ambitions in Britain. During World War II Glasgow and the Clyde became Britains main entry point for Allied merchant shipping, military personnel and equipment, the Clyde formed the largest base of naval ships. The area became famous worldwide for its significant contribution to yachting and yachtbuilding with notable designers including, William Fife III, Alfred Mylne, G L Watson and it was also the location of many famous yacht yards. Clyde-built wooden yachts are known for quality and style today
11.
Carlingford Lough
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Carlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet that forms part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore is County Down and on its shore is County Louth. At its extreme interior angle it is fed by the Newry River, the name is derived from the Old Norse Kerlingfjǫrðr, which means narrow sea-inlet of the hag. Historically it was called Cuan Snámh-Aighneach, Snámh-Aighneach or Cuan Cairlinne in Irish, an older English name was Nury Bay. The Newry River and the Newry Canal link the lough to the city of Newry. The only other glacial fjords in Ireland are Lough Swilly and Killary Harbour, on the northern coast, in County Down, are the coastal towns of Warrenpoint and Rostrevor, backed by the Mourne Mountains. On the southern coast are Omeath, Carlingford and Greenore backed by the Cooley Mountains, the seaward entrance to the lough is marked by the Haulbowline Lighthouse, which was built in 1824. The area has been a popular tourist destination since Victorian times when the railway between Dublin and Belfast was opened, situated approximately halfway between the two cities, the easy access to the area combined with its scenery and sheltered location are still important factors in its popularity today. Rambling, hillwalking and climbing are popular, with local outdoor education centres offering courses and its a similar story on the water, with marinas in Carlingford and Warrenpoint. Culturally, there is an offering of events and festivals. The majority of festivals are free, although bookings and or entry fees may be payable for some events. More informal entertainment is available throughout the year in hotels. Accommodation includes award-winning hotels, B&Bs, self-catering holiday cottages, early booking is always advisable during holiday periods as even the campsites are often full to capacity. Opportunities to eat out are largely confined to the Hotels, small restaurants and local bars, in 2008, the area was designated a European Destination of Excellence, and continuing investment in infrastructure, services and facilities on both sides of the border is assured. The northern shores have extensive mudflats and salt marshes which provide winter feeding areas for the pale-bellied brent goose, at the mouth of the lough are several small rock and shingle islands which are breeding areas for terns that feed in its shallow waters. The Lough is an Important Bird Area, the Carlingford Lough Ramsar site, is 830.51 hectares in area, at latitude 540300 N and longitude 060700 W. It was designated a Ramsar site on 9 March 1998, the northern shore is in Northern Ireland and includes the most significant mudflats in the lough, and an area of salt marsh. The southern shore is in the Republic of Ireland, at the mouth of the lough are several small rock and shingle islands which are of importance to terns
12.
Perth, Scotland
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Perth is a city in central Scotland, located on the banks of the River Tay. It is the centre of Perth and Kinross council area. According to the preliminary 2011 census results Perth, including its suburbs, has a population of 50,000. Perth has been known as The Fair City since the publication of the story Fair Maid of Perth by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott in 1828. During the later period the city was also called St Johns Toun or Saint Johnstoun by its inhabitants in reference to the main church dedicated to St John the Baptist. This name is preserved by the football team, St Johnstone F. C. The name Perth comes from a Pictish word for wood or copse, there has been a settlement at Perth since prehistoric times, on a natural mound raised slightly above the flood plain of the Tay, where the river could be crossed at low tide. The area surrounding the city is known to have been occupied since Mesolithic hunter-gatherers arrived more than 8000 years ago. Nearby Neolithic standing stones and circles also exist, dating from about 4000 BC, the presence of Scone Abbey, home of the Stone of Destiny where the King of Scots was crowned, enhanced the early importance of the city. Perth became known as a capital of Scotland, due to the frequent residence of the royal court, Royal Burgh status was soon given to the city by King William the Lion in the early 12th century. The city became one of the richest burghs in the country, doing trade with France, the Low Countries and Baltic Countries for goods such as Spanish silk and French wine. The Scottish Reformation also played a big role in the city with the sacking of the Houses of the Greyfriars and Blackfriars, the Act of Settlement later brought about Jacobite uprisings. The city was occupied by Jacobite supporters on three occasions, the founding of Perth Academy in 1760 helped to bring major industries, such as linen, leather, bleach and whisky, to the city. Given its location, Perth was perfectly placed to become a key transport centre with the coming of the railways, today, Perth serves as a retail centre for the surrounding area. Following the decline of the industry locally, the citys economy has now diversified to include insurance. Due to its location, the city is referred to as the Gateway to the Highlands. The Australian metropolis Perth took its name from the Scottish city, Perth is also twinned with Aschaffenburg in the German state of Bavaria. The name Perth derives from a Pictish-Gaelic word for wood or copse, Perth was referred to as St Johns ton up until the mid-1600s with the name Perthia being reserved for the wider area
13.
Cairn
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A cairn is a human-made pile of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic, càrn, cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from prehistoric times to the present. In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times. Cairns are used as markers in many parts of the world, in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, as well as in barren deserts. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons. An ancient example is the inuksuk, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, inuksuit are found from Alaska to Greenland. This region, above the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks, different types of cairns exist from rough piles of stones to interlocking dry stone round cylinders. The most important cairns commonly used around the world are interlocking stone survey cairns constructed around a central survey mark about every 30 km on the tallest peaks across a nation. These physical survey mark cairn systems by surveyors as the basis for national survey grids to interconnect individual land survey measurements for entire nations, on occasion these permanent interlocking stone cairns were taken down then reconstructed for survey mark for measurements to increase the accuracy of the national survey grid. They can also be used in unpopulated country as emergency location points, for example, the extensive trail network maintained by the DNT, the Norwegian Trekking Association, extensively uses cairns in conjunction with T-painted rock faces to mark trails. Other examples of these can be seen in the fields of Volcanoes National Park to mark several hikes. Placed at regular intervals, a series of cairns can be used to indicate a path across stony or barren terrain, such cairns are often placed at junctions or in places where the trail direction is not obvious. They may also be used to indicate an obscured danger such as a sudden drop, most trail cairns are small, usually being a foot or less in height. However, they may be built taller so as to protrude through a layer of snow, hikers passing by often add a stone, as a small bit of maintenance to counteract the erosive effects of severe weather. North American trail marks are sometimes called ducks or duckies, because they sometimes have a beak pointing in the direction of the route. The expression two rocks do not make a duck reminds hikers that just one rock resting upon another could be the result of accident or nature rather than intentional trail marking. The building of cairns for recreational purposes along trails, to ones personal passage through the area. This distracts from cairns used as navigational guides, and also conflicts with the Leave No Trace ethic
14.
Passage grave
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A passage grave or passage tomb consists of a narrow passage made of large stones and one or multiple burial chambers covered in earth or stone. The building of tombs was normally carried out with megaliths and smaller stones. Those with more than one chamber may have multiple sub-chambers leading off from the burial chamber. One common layout, the passage grave, is cross-shaped. Sometimes passage tombs are covered with a cairn, especially those dating from later times, not all passage graves have been found to contain evidence of human remains. Passage tombs of the type often have elaborate corbelled roofs rather than simple slabs. Megalithic art has been identified carved into the stones at some sites and this appears to be one of the first uses of the term passage tomb. It is likely that the writers borrowed from the Spanish term tumbas de corredor, which is used for tombs in Cantabria, Galicia, of their list, only passage tombs appear to have widespread distribution throughout Europe. Passage graves are distributed extensively in lands along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe and they are found in Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Drenthe area of the Netherlands. They are also found in Iberia, some parts of the Mediterranean, the earliest passage tombs seem to take the form of small dolmens. In Ireland and Britain, passage tombs are found in large clusters. Many later passage tombs were constructed at the tops of hills or mountains, Newgrange. com World Heritage IE - Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth
15.
Cloghanmore
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Cloghanmore is a megalithic chamber tomb of the court tomb type located about 8 km east from Carrick in Malin More, Glencolmcille, in County Donegal, Ireland. The tomb is oriented east to west, with the entrance located on the eastern end. It is a tomb, with parallel twin galleries to either side of the entrance. There are two western galleries each divided into two chambers by jamb stones, one of the two western galleries is topped with a large capstone. The court space measures approximately 45 ft and this configuration, with two galleries located side-by-side across from the entrance and looking into a central full court is considered unusual. A large stone lies in the centre of the court partially blocking the view of the gallery entrances, the court is marked partly by orthostats and partly by dry-walling, indicating an intermediary state between an open forecourt and a full-court. In front of the gallery is a gabled lintel-stone. To the left of the entrance, built into the fabric of the cairn is a subsidiary chamber, to the right of the entrance is a second chamber with its roofstone almost in place. Next to each of these chambers is a stone with engravings in passage-tomb style - a unique occurrence at a court-tomb, at mid-day in midwinter the sun rides along a ridge of the mountains to the south and shines directly into the second chamber. Looking southeast from the tomb, the tip of Lergadaghtan protrudes just above the north of Slieve League. Irish Antiquities - Photographs of Cloghanmore Court Tomb, Malin More First of Ten Photographs of Cloghanmore Court Tomb, Malin More, Donegal, Ireland at A-Wee-bit-of-Ireland. com
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
17.
Prehistoric Scotland
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Archaeology and geology continue to reveal the secrets of prehistoric Scotland, uncovering a complex past before the Romans brought Scotland into the scope of recorded history. Scotland is geologically alien to Europe, comprising a lost sliver of the ancient continent of Laurentia, during the Cambrian period the crustal region which became Scotland formed part of the continental shelf of Laurentia, then still south of the equator. Laurentia was separated from the continent of Baltica by the diminishing Iapetus Ocean, the two ancient continents moved toward one another through the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, with tectonic folding during the Silurian pushing the first Scottish land above water. The final collision occurred during the Devonian period, with the Scottish segment of the Laurentian plate smashing into Avalonia, a motile subcontinent which had previously joined with Baltica. This impact threw up a chain of mountains and saw the formation of the granitic West Highland and Grampian mountain chains. During the Permian and Triassic periods, with the Iapetus Ocean entirely closed, at the start of the Tertiary, a constructive plate boundary became active between Laurentia and Eurasia, pushing the two apart. In lowland areas the ice deposited rich fields of glacial till and eroded the softer material surrounding the extinct volcanoes. Neanderthal sites have found in the south of England, and it is possible that early humans made their way to Scotland. Glaciers then scoured their way across most of Britain, and it was only after the ice retreated about 15,000 years ago that Scotland again became habitable, as the climate improved, mesolithic hunter-gatherers extended their range into Scotland. The earliest evidence to date is the flint artefacts found at Howburn Farm, an early settlement at Cramond, near what is today Edinburgh, has been dated to around 8500 BC. Pits and stakeholes suggest a hunter-gatherer encampment, and microlith stone tools made at the site predate finds of similar style in England and this suggests that hunter-gatherers could also have settled down in Scotland. Finds of flint tools on Ben Lawers and at Glen Dee show that people were capable of travelling well inland across the hills. At Balbridie in Aberdeenshire crop markings were investigated, and ditches and post holes found, an almost identical building, with evidence of pottery, was excavated at Claish near Stirling. On the islet of Eilean Domhnuill, in Loch Olabhat on North Uist, there are many other examples across the country, many under the care of Historic Scotland. At the wonderfully well preserved stone house at Knap of Howar on the Orkney island of Papa Westray the walls stand to a low height. Finely made and decorated Unstan ware pottery links the inhabitants to chambered cairn tombs nearby and to sites far afield, including Balbrindi, the houses at Skara Brae on the Mainland of the Orkney Islands are very similar, but are grouped into a village linked by low passageways. This settlement was occupied from about 3000 BC to 2500 BC, pottery found here is of the grooved ware style which is found across Britain as far away as Wessex. About 6 miles from Skara Brae, grooved ware pottery was found at the Standing Stones of Stenness which lie centrally in a group of three major monuments
18.
Inner Hebrides
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The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate, the Inner Hebrides comprise 35 inhabited islands as well as 44 uninhabited islands with an area greater than 30 hectares. The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing and whisky distilling, in modern times the Inner Hebrides have formed part of two separate local government jurisdictions, one to the north and the other to the south. Together, the islands have an area of about 4,130 km2, the population density is therefore about 4.6 per km2. There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman, control of the islands was then held by various clan chiefs, principally the MacLeans, MacLeods and MacDonalds. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had an effect on many communities. Sea transport is crucial and a variety of services operate to mainland Scotland. The Gaelic language remains strong in areas, the landscapes have inspired a variety of artists. The islands form a disparate archipelago, the largest islands are, from south to north, Islay, Jura, Mull, Rùm and Skye. Skye is the largest and most populous of all with an area of 1,656 km2, the southern group are in Argyll, an area roughly corresponding with the heartlands of the ancient kingdom of Dál Riata and incorporated into the modern unitary council area of Argyll and Bute. The northern islands were part of the county of Inverness-shire and are now in the Highland Council area, the ten largest islands are as follows. The geology and geomorphology of the islands is varied, some, such as Skye and Mull, are mountainous, whilst others like Tiree are relatively low-lying. The highest mountains are the Cuillins of Skye, although peaks over 300 metres are common elsewhere, much of the coastline is machair, a fertile low-lying dune pastureland. Many of the islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan tide race between Scarba and Jura is one of the largest whirlpools in the world. There are various smaller archipelagoes including the Ascrib Islands, Crowlin Islands, Slate Islands, Small Isles, Summer Isles, the inhabited islands of the Inner Hebrides had a population of 18,257 at the 2001 census, and this had grown to 18,948 in 2011. During the same period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702, there are a further 44 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than 74 acres. Records for the last date of settlement for the islands are incomplete. However, the populations of the islands grew overall by more than 12% from 1981-2001
19.
Kilmartin Glen
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Kilmartin Glen is an area in Argyll not far from Kintyre, which has one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland. The glen is located between Oban and Lochgilphead, surrounding the village of Kilmartin, there are more than 350 ancient monuments within a six-mile radius of the village, with 150 of them being prehistoric. Monuments include standing stones, a monument, numerous cists. Several of these, as well as many rocks, are decorated with cup. The remains of the fortress of the Scots at Dunadd, a centre of Dal Riata, are located to the south of the glen. The Kilmartin House Museum of Ancient Culture is located within the village itself, the most visible feature of the Kilmartin Glen is the linear arrangement of cairns, running over three miles south-by-south-west from the village. There are five remaining cairns in the alignment, although cropmarks, the burial cairns are of Bronze Age origin, with the exception of Nether Largie South cairn, which is a Stone Age structure, rebuilt in the Bronze Age. The most northerly cairn, Glebe is situated immediately to the west of Kilmartin Village, the cairn was excavated in 1864 by the antiquary Canon William Greenwell, and two concentric stone circles were found beneath the stones. At the centre were two cist burials, and finds recovered included a jet necklace and a decorated bowl and this cairn was first excavated in 1929, shortly after much of the stone had been reused in roadbuilding. It is around 30m across, and was formerly 3m in height, kerbstones, which formed the boundary of the cairn, can still be seen. Inside two cists were found, with grooved joints between the stone slabs, cup marks, and a carving of an axehead, can be seen on the southern cist. Nether Largie South is the oldest monument of the linear cemetery and it is a Neolithic chambered cairn of the Clyde type, probably dating from the fourth millennium BC. The cairn was originally around 40m in diameter and 4m high, although stone robbing has reduced its size. The internal chamber, subdivided into four by floor slabs, is over 6m long, around 1. 7m high, although now exposed, the chamber would have been encased within the cairn. Two cists were also located in this cairn, to the south of the chamber, archaeological finds recovered from Nether Largie South include Neolithic pottery and arrowheads. Around which are seven stones and one fallen one. Another menhir is one hundred metres to the northwest leading towards the circle, alexander Thom toured this site with Magnus Magnusson in 1970 in a BBC television documentary called Chronicle, Cracking the stone age code. He suggested that gave so much information that it must be regarded as one of the most important and he clarified his hypothesis that it was a lunar observatory for predicting eclipses
20.
Outer Hebrides
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The Outer Hebrides, also known as the Western Isles, Innse Gall or the Long Isle or Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority. Most of the islands have a formed from ancient metamorphic rocks. The 15 inhabited islands have a population of 27,100. From Barra Head to the Butt of Lewis is roughly 210 kilometres, There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors. The Western Isles became part of the Norse kingdom of the Suðreyjar, control of the islands was then held by clan chiefs, principal of whom were the MacLeods, MacDonalds, Mackenzies and MacNeils. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had an effect on many communities. Much of the land is now under control and commercial activity is based on tourism, crofting, fishing. Sea transport is crucial and a variety of services operate between the islands and to mainland Scotland. Modern navigation systems now minimise the dangers but in the past the stormy seas have claimed many ships, religion, music and sport are important aspects of local culture, and there are numerous designated conservation areas to protect the natural environment. The islands form an archipelago whose major islands are Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra. Lewis and Harris has an area of 217,898 hectares and is the largest island in Scotland and it incorporates Lewis in the north and Harris in the south, both of which are frequently referred to as individual islands, although they are connected by land. The island does not have a name in either English or Gaelic. The largest islands are deeply indented by arms of the sea such as Loch Ròg, Loch Seaforth, There are also more than 7,500 freshwater lochs in the Outer Hebrides, about 24% of the total for the whole of Scotland. North and South Uist and Lewis in particular have landscapes with a percentage of fresh water. Harris has fewer large bodies of water but has innumerable small lochans, Loch Langavat on Lewis is 11 kilometres long, and has several large islands in its midst, including Eilean Mòr. Although Loch Suaineabhal has only 25% of Loch Langavats surface area, of Loch Sgadabhagh on North Uist it has been said that there is probably no other loch in Britain which approaches Loch Scadavay in irregularity and complexity of outline
21.
Prehistoric Orkney
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Prehistoric Orkney refers to a period in the human occupation of the Orkney archipelago of Scotland that was the latter part of these islands prehistory. The period of prior to occupation by the genus Homo is part of the geology of Scotland. Although some written records refer to Orkney during the Roman invasions of Scotland, there are numerous important prehistoric remains in Orkney, especially from the Neolithic period, four of which form a World Heritage Site. There are diverse reasons for the abundance of the archaeological record, the sandstone bedrock provides easily workable stone materials and the wind-blown sands have helped preserve several sites. The relative lack of industrialisation and low incidence of ploughing also have helped to preserve these ancient monuments, local tradition hints at both a fear and veneration of these ancient structures that may have helped to retain their structural integrity. The Paleolithic lasted until the retreat of the ice, the Mesolithic until the adoption of farming, a number of the sites span long periods of time and in particular the distinctions between the Neolithic and the later periods are not clear cut. The subsequent Iron Age supported a return to building, especially of brochs. The sites discussed are found on the Orkney Mainland unless otherwise stated, no traces have yet been found in Scotland of either a Neanderthal presence or of Homo sapiens during the Pleistocene interglacials. The first indications of humans occur only after the ice retreated in the 11th millennium BC, since that time the landscape of Orkney has been altered by both human and natural forces. Initially, sea levels were lower than at present due to the volume of ice that remained. This meant that the Orkney islands may have attached to the mainland. Much of the North Sea basin was dry land until after 4000 BC. This would have travel to northern Scotland relatively easy for early human settlers. The subsequent isostatic rise of land makes estimating post-glacial coastlines a complex task, the very limited archaeological record provides scant evidence of Mesolithic life in Orkney in particular and Scotland north of Inverness in general. Lithic scatter sites at Seatter, South Ettit, Wideford Hill, Valdigar and Loch of Stenness have produced small polished stone tools, a charred hazelnut shell, recovered during the excavations at Longhowe in Tankerness in 2007, has been dated to 6820-6660 BC. However, there is no evidence to suggest whether or not these sites were in year-round occupation, a recently excavated site on Stronsay has produced a thousand pieces of flint and what may be evidence of a temporary camp. With a tentative dating of 7000 BC or older it may prove to be the oldest settlement site found so far on Orkney, about 6000 BC the Storegga Slides of the coast of Norway created a tsunami that reached 25 metres above normal high tides in places. Evidence of widespread coastal inundations from a wave 8 metres high has been found as far south as Fife, the assemblage of monumental Neolithic structures in Orkney is without parallel in the United Kingdom and on the Orkney Mainland provides an entire landscape of features from this period
22.
Prehistoric Shetland
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Prehistoric Shetland refers to a period in the human occupation of the Shetland archipelago of Scotland that was the latter part of these islands prehistory. The period of prior to occupation by the genus Homo is part of the geology of Scotland. A midden site at West Voe on the south coast of Mainland, the same site provides dates for early Neolithic activity and finds at Scord of Brouster in Walls have been dated to 3400 BC. This site includes a cluster of six or seven walled fields, Shetland knives are stone tools that date from this period made from felsite from Northmavine. Heel-shaped cairns, are a style of chambered cairn unique to Shetland, staneydale Temple near Bixter is a large Neolithic ruin containing an oval chamber. Around it are the remains of houses, walls and cairns of the same period, there are numerous Neolithic era standing stones including those at Yoxie on Whalsay and at Boardastubble, Unst. Hjaltadans on Fetlar is a ring of stones, although there are no true stone circles as such in Shetland, funzie Girt is a remarkable dividing wall that ran for 4 kilometres across the island of Fetlar. The level of organisation involved suggest a high population for Shetland in the Neolithic. Pottery shards found at the important site of Jarlshof indicate that there was Neolithic activity there although the settlement dates from the Bronze Age. This includes a smithy, a cluster of wheelhouses and a later broch, the site has provided evidence of habitation during various phases right up until Viking times. Numerous brochs were erected during the Iron Age, the Broch of Mousa is the finest preserved example in Scotland of these round towers. In addition to Mousa there are significant broch ruins at Clickimin, Culswick, Old Scatness and West Burrafirth, although their origin and purpose is a matter of some controversy. In 2011 the collective site, The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland including Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof joined the UKs Tentative List of World Heritage Sites. In AD43 and 77 the Roman authors Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder referred to the seven islands they call Haemodae and Acmodae respectively, both of which are assumed to be Shetland. However, another early reference to the Shetland islands may have been when Tacitus reported that the Roman fleet had seen Thule on a voyage that included Orkney in AD98. Watson states that Tacitus was referring to Shetland, although Breeze, the later Iron Age inhabitants of the Northern Isles were probably Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. The St Ninians Isle Treasure was discovered in 1958 by a local schoolboy, Coutts was helping visiting archaeologists led by A. C. ODell of Aberdeen University at a dig on the island, the silver bowls, jewellery and other pieces are believed to date from approximately AD800
23.
Architecture of Scotland in the Prehistoric era
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The architecture of Scotland in the prehistoric era includes all human building within the modern borders of Scotland, before the arrival of the Romans in Britain in the first century BCE. Stone Age settlers began to build in wood in what is now Scotland from at least 8,000 years ago, the first permanent houses of stone were constructed around 6,000 years ago, as at Knap of Howar, Orkney and settlements like Skara Brae. There are also numbers of chambered tombs and cairns from this era, particularly in the west. In the south and east there are earthen barrows, often linked to timber monuments of which remnants remain. Related structures include bank barrows, cursus monuments, mortuary enclosures, from the Bronze Age there are fewer new buildings, but there is evidence of crannogs, roundhouses built on an artificial islands and of Clava cairns and the first hillforts. From the Iron Age there is evidence of substantial stone Atlantic roundhouses, there is also evidence of about 1,000 hillforts in Scotland, most located below the Clyde-Forth line. The oldest house for which there is evidence in Britain is the structure of wooden posts found at South Queensferry near the Firth of Forth, dating from the Mesolithic period. The earliest stone structures are probably the three hearths found at Jura, dated to about 6000 BCE. Neolithic habitation, burial and ritual sites are common and well-preserved in the Northern and Western Isles. Skara Brae on the Mainland of Orkney also dates from this era, there are also large numbers of chambered tombs and cairns from this period. Many different types have been identified, but they can be grouped into passage graves, gallery graves. Cists are relatively simple box-like graves, usually made up of stone slaps, maes Howe, near Stenness on the mainland of Orkney and Monamore, Isle of Arran are passage graves, of megalith construction, built with large stones, many of which weigh several tons. Gallery graves are rectangular gallery-like spaces, where the entrance at one end is the width of the gallery and these were sometimes lined or roofed with slabs and then covered with earth. Today these monuments consist of mounds of earth or stone, most commonly trapezoidal in plan. They are widely distributed in the Lowlands, particularly in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, related structures include bank barrows, cursus monuments, mortuary enclosures, timber halls, and other forms of enclosure. Bank barrows are parallel-sided mounds, usually flanked by ditches on either side, originally believed to be Roman in origin, cursus monuments also consist of long parallel lengths of banks of earth with external ditches, but with an open avenue or enclose between. Both forms are associated with burial chambers. Examples of bank barrows in Scotland include from Perthshire the long mound at Auchenlaich and the hybrid bank barrow/cursus monument and at Cleaven Dyke, remains of mortuary enclosures of this period are often found under long barrows
24.
Atlantic roundhouse
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In archaeology, an Atlantic roundhouse is an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and western parts of mainland Scotland, the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. A form of dry-stone Iron Age dwelling, they are unique to the region, an example of a simple Atlantic roundhouse is at Bu in Orkney, while complex structures include the brochs, duns and wheelhouses. Although constructed out of stone, they are thought to have had a wooden roof similar to that of the timber roundhouses found elsewhere. Examples can be found at Dun Ringill on Skye, Dun Carloway on Lewis, Pierowall on Westray, dunvegan Community Trust plan to re-create an Iron Age roundhouse structure at Orbost on Skye with the help of National Lottery funding
25.
Crannog
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A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs have been interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay, although more commonly they exist as brush. However, in such as the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. As a result, completely stone crannogs supporting drystone architecture are common there, today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock. The Irish word crannóg derives from Old Irish crannóc, which referred to a structure or vessel, stemming from crann. The modern sense of the term first appears sometime around the 12th century, its popularity spread in the period along with the terms isle, ylle, inis. There is some confusion on what the term originally referred to. The additional meanings of crannog can be related as structure/piece of wood, wooden pin, crows nest, pulpit, drivers box on a coach. The Scottish Gaelic form is crannag and has the additional meanings of pulpit, Crannogs are widespread in Ireland, with an estimated 1,200 examples, while Scotland has 347 sites officially listed as such. Previously unknown crannogs in Scotland and Ireland are still being found as underwater surveys continue to investigate loch beds for completely submerged examples, the largest concentrations of crannogs in Ireland are found in the Drumlin Belt of the Midlands, North and Northwest. In Scotland, crannogs favour a western or Atlantic distribution, with concentrations in Argyll and Dumfries. In reality, the Western Isles contain the highest density of lake-settlements in Scotland, one lone Welsh example at Llangorse Lake exists, likely a product of Irish influence across the Irish Sea. Crannogs took on different forms and methods of construction based on what was available in the immediate landscape. The classic image of a prehistoric crannog stems from both post-medieval illustrations and highly influential such as Milton Loch in Scotland by C. M. The Milton Loch interpretation is of a small islet surrounded or defined at its edges by timber piles, Crannogs are traditionally interpreted as simple prehistorical farmsteads. A strict definition of a crannog, which has long been debated, sites in the Western Isles do not satisfy this criterion, although their inhabitants shared the common habit of living on water. The visible structural remains are traditionally interpreted as duns, or in more recent terminology as Atlantic roundhouses and this terminology has recently become popular when describing the entire range of robust, drystone structures that existed in later prehistoric Atlantic Scotland. In some early digs, labourers merely hauled away tons of materials with little regard to anything that was not of immediate economic value
26.
Hillforts in Scotland
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Hillforts in Scotland are earthworks, sometimes with wooden or stone enclosures, built on higher ground, which usually include a significant settlement, built within the modern boundaries of Scotland. They were first studied in the century and the first serious field research was undertaken in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century there were numbers of archaeological investigations of specific sites. Forts have been classified by type and their military and ritual functions have been debated and they were introduced into Scotland during the Bronze Age from around 1000 BCE. The largest group are from the Iron Age, with over 1,000 hillforts, mostly below the Clyde-Forth line, there are also large numbers of vitrified forts, which have been subjected to fire, many of which may date to this period. The first major study of Scottish hillforts was undertaken by General William Roy, however, Roy recorded only native forts like Burnswark that had a close relationship to Roman constructions, or which he wrongly attributed to be Roman in origin. He also recognised some of the relationships between major and subordinate sites, and the importance of intervisibility between sites, in 1851 the Scots-Canadian Daniel Wilson was the first person to use the term pre-historic in English, but he was dismissive of the significance of hillforts. The first serious research in Scotland was undertaken by David Christison. This was the first comprehensive survey of hillforts in a region of Britain and it was critical of previous neglect of the subject and cautious in labelling all forts as prehistoric. His work was published in 1898 as Early Fortification of Scotland, particularly important in Northern Britain was C. M. Piggotts investigation at Hownam Rings in the Cheviots. This established the Hownam model for Iron Age forts of progressive complexity of enclosure, the introduction of reliable carbon dating in the late twentieth century allowed new approaches to be developed in which the defensive sequence was less prominent. The idea of developing enclosure, followed by a period of post-enclosure settlement developed in the Hownam model is seen as having some validity. A. H. A. Hogg identified four types of hillfort, contour forts, promontory forts, cliff forts, contour forts, where banks and ditches are moulded to the shape of the hill, are the dominant form in Scotland. Less significant are promontory forts, usually employing coastal features, such as the largest one in Scotland at the Mull of Galloway, different types of defensive style occurred throughout the Iron Age period, some of which may have been a response to Roman siege warfare. There were different combinations in the use of earth, stone or timber, timber was frequently in-filled with stone or other materials. In continental Europe the timber is often arranged vertically, but in Scotland horizontal timbers were more common, the function of hillforts has been much debated. Bronze working developed in Scotland from about 2000 BCE, as elsewhere in Europe, it was in this period that hillforts of varying size and form were first introduced. Some had timber palisades and others ditches and ramparts and these included the occupation of Eildon hill near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, from around 1000 BCE, which accommodated hundreds of houses on a fortified hilltop
27.
Architecture of Scotland in the Roman era
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Although Ptolemy indicated that there were 19 towns in Caledonia, north of the Roman province of Britannia, no clear evidence of urban settlements has been found and these were probably hillforts. There is evidence of over 1,000 such forts, most below the Clyde-Forth line, there is also evidence of distinctive stone wheelhouses and small underground souterrains. These were soon abandoned, and the Romans settled for the occupation of the Southern Uplands by the end of the first century and this resulted in more fortifications and the building of Hadrians Wall across what is now northern England. Around 141 CE they moved up to construct a new limes, a wall made of turf known as the Antonine Wall. They soon retreated to Hadrians Wall, with occasional expeditions that involved the building and reoccupation of forts, Caledonia was the name that the Romans gave to the land north of their province of Britannia. In his Geographia, Ptolemy, possibly drawing on sources of information as well as more contemporary accounts from the Agricolan invasion. No archaeological evidence of any truly urban places has been found from time. Lindon may be Balloch on Loch Lomond side, there is evidence for about 1,000 Iron Age hillforts in Scotland, most located below the Clyde-Forth line. The majority are circular, with a palisade around an enclosure. However, they appear to have largely abandoned in the Roman period. There are also numerous vitrified forts, whose walls have been subjected to fire, which may date to this period, but an accurate chronology has not been created. Extensive studies of this type of fort at Finavon Hill near Forfar in Angus, many of these forts would be reoccupied after the Roman departure. Beyond the area of Roman occupation, in the west and north, perhaps a development of earlier Atlantic roundhouses, these have a characteristic outer wall surrounding a circle of stone piers. They are usually close to settlements and may have been for storing perishable agricultural products. The Romans began military expeditions into what is now Scotland from about 71 CE, in 78 CE Gnaeus Julius Agricola arrived in Britain to take up his appointment as the new governor and began a series of major incursions. Two years later his legions constructed a fort at Trimontium near Melrose. He is said to have pushed his armies to the estuary of the River Taus and established forts there, agricolas successors were unable or unwilling to further subdue the far north. The fortress at Inchtuthil was dismantled before its completion, and the fortifications of the Gask Ridge were abandoned within the space of a few years
28.
Wheelhouse (archaeology)
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In archaeology, a wheelhouse is a prehistoric structure from the Iron Age found in Scotland. The term was first coined after the discovery of a mound in 1855. The distinctive architectural form related to the complex roundhouses constitute the main settlement type in the Western Isles in the closing centuries BC, a total of 62 sites have now been identified in the Northern and Western Isles, and on the north coast of Caithness and Sutherland. Amateur enthusiasts did some excavation in the 19th century, but professional examination of the sites did not begin until the 1930s, no work of a modern standard was done in the Hebrides until 1946 at Clettreval on North Uist. They range in diameter from 4 metres to 11.5 metres and those sites that have been dated tend to fall within the period 25 BC to 380 AD. In the Northern Isles, 72% are found in association with broch sites, no sites in the west have such an association, an as yet unresolved enigma. The majority are dug into the landscape and only their thatched roofs would have been visible above the ground — although these would have been 6 metres or more in height, other examples were built above ground, such as Clettraval and Bagh nam Feadag. Many sites incorporate animal burials beneath the floor, the most common bones being those of young lambs. Other bone deposits include the heads of a human and a great auk at Cnip on Lewis, five sites include menhirs and fifteen a red and black mortar. These features tends to support the hypothesis that the purpose of these buildings was ritualistic. Confusingly therefore, wheelhouses are neither wheels, nor perhaps houses, the highly restricted nature of their geographical locations suggests that they may have been contained within a political or cultural frontier of some kind. The co-incidence of their arrival and departure being associated with the period of Roman influence in Scotland is a matter of ongoing debate, atlantic roundhouse Broch Timeline of prehistoric Scotland Armit, Ian. Broch Building in Northern Scotland, The Context of Innovation, Armit, Towers in the North, The Brochs of Scotland, Stroud, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-1932-3 Crawford, Iain The wheelhouse in Smith, Beverley Ballin and Banks, Iain In the Shadow of the Brochs. ISBN 0-7524-2517-X Turner, Val Ancient Shetland
29.
Prehistoric art in Scotland
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There is no clear definition of prehistoric art among scholars and objects that may involve creativity often lack a context that would allow them to be understood. The earliest examples of art from what is now Scotland are highly decorated carved stone balls from the Neolithic period. Other items from this period include elaborate carved maceheads and figurines from Links of Noltland, including the Westray Wife, from the Bronze Age there are examples of carvings, including the first representations of objects, and cup and ring marks. Elaborate carved stone battle-axes may be representations of power. Surviving metalwork includes gold lunula or neckplates, jet beaded necklaces and elaborate weaponry, such as leaf swords, from the Iron Age there are more extensive examples of patterned objects and gold work. Evidence of the wider La Tène culture includes the Torrs Pony-cap, the Stirling torcs demonstrate common styles found in Scotland and Ireland and continental workmanship. One of the most impressive items from this period is the head fragment of the Deskford carnyx. From the first century CE, as Rome carried out a series of occupations, there are Roman artifacts like the Cramond Lioness, the ability to study prehistoric art is dependent on surviving artifacts. Whether all these artifacts can be defined as works of art is contested between scholars, alexander Marshack argued that the earliest, non-representational incisions on rock mark the beginnings of human art. More cautiously, Paul Mellars suggests that the rarity of these works means they cannot be seen as integral to early human society. Colin Renfrew has pointed out the dangers of applying modern values of art to past societies and cultures, duncan Garrow has pointed to the difficulties of the modern distinction drawn between form and decoration. The emphasis in studies of prehistoric art tend to be placed on decoration in such as ceramics and ignores the importance of form. Many meanings have been suggested for the advent and nature of prehistoric art and it may have helped develop human solidarity in its early stages. Open air rock art may have acted as signposts for the route of animal migrations, Cave art may have had a ritual role in rites of initiation, vision quests or totemic ceremonies. Portable objects may have acted as notation systems and anthropomorphic figures may have had a role in religious rituals, however, most artifacts can only be understood in their context, which is often lost or poorly understood. Scotland was occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from around 8500 BCE, who were highly mobile boat-using people making tools from bone, stone, Neolithic farming brought permanent settlements, like the stone house at Knap of Howar on Papa Westray, dating from around 3500 BCE. There is no surviving art from the Mesolithic period in Scotland, probably the oldest surviving portable visual art from Scotland are carved stone balls, or petrospheres, that date from the late Neolithic era. They are a uniquely Scottish phenomenon, with over 425 known examples, many functions have been suggested for these objects, most indicating that they were prestigious and powerful possessions
30.
Carved Stone Balls
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Carved Stone Balls are petrospheres, usually round and rarely oval. They have from 3 to 160 protruding knobs on the surface and they range from having no ornamentation to extensive and highly varied engraved patterns. A wide range of theories have been produced to explain their use or significance and they are not to be confused with the much larger smooth round stone spheres of Costa Rica. Carved Stone Balls are up to 5200 years old, coming from the late Neolithic to at least the Bronze Age, nearly all have been found in north-east Scotland, the majority in Aberdeenshire, the fertile land lying to the east of the Grampian Mountains. A similar distribution to that of Pictish symbols led to the suggestion that Carved Stone Balls are Pictish artefacts. The core distribution also reflects that of the Recumbent stone circles, as objects they are very easy to transport and a few have been found on Iona, Skye, Harris, Uist, Lewis, Arran, Hawick, Wigtownshire and fifteen from Orkney. Outside Scotland examples have found in Ireland at Ballymena, and in England at Durham, Cumbria, Lowick. The larger balls are all from Aberdeenshire, bar one from Newburgh in Fife, by the late 1970s a total of 387 had been recorded. Of these, by far the greatest concentration was found in Aberdeenshire, by 1983 the number had risen to 411. By 2015 a total of over 425 balls were recorded, a collection of over 30 carved balls from Scotland, Ireland and northern England is in the British Museums collection. Many of the balls have not had their discovery site recorded, five were found at Skara Brae village and one at the Dunadd hillfort. The distribution of the balls is similar to that of mace-heads, the lack of context is likely to distort the interpretation. Random finds are likely to have been picked up and entered a collection if they were aesthetically appealing. Damaged and plain balls were likely to find a market than decorated examples so some more decorated examples might be fraudulent. In 2013, archaeologists discovered a stone ball at Ness of Brodgar. Many are said to be made of greenstone, but this is a term for all varieties of dark, greenish igneous rocks, including diorites, serpentinite. Forty-three are sandstone, including Old Red Sandstone,26 greenstone and 12 quartzite, nine were serpentinite and these had been carved. Some were made of gabbro, and a material to carve
31.
Grooved ware
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Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people, unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have developed in Orkney, early in the 3rd millennium BC, and was soon adopted in Britain and Ireland. The diagnostic shape for the style is a pot with straight sides sloping outwards. Beyond this the pottery comes in varieties, some with complex geometric decorations others with applique bands added. The latter has led archaeologists to argue that the style is a skeuomorph and is derived from wicker basketry. Grooved ware pots excavated at Balfarg in Fife have been analysed to determine their contents. It appears that some of the vessels there may have used to hold black henbane which is a poison. Since many Grooved ware pots have been found at henge sites and in burials, Grooved ware comes in many sizes, some vessels are extremely large, c.30 gallons, and would be suitable for fermentation. The majority are smaller, ranging from jug- to cup-size, the earliest examples have been found in Orkney and may have evolved from earlier Unstan ware bowls. The recent excavations at nearby Ness of Brodgar have revealed many sherds of finely decorated Grooved ware pottery, a large number of drinking vessels have also been identified. The style soon spread and it was used by the builders of the first phase of Stonehenge, Grooved ware pottery has been found in abundance in recent excavations at Durrington Walls and Marden Henge in Wiltshire. Here, the feasting would have involved drinking ale and eating pork, smaller quantities of Grooved ware have been found at the nearby site of Figsbury Ring. Grooved ware was previously referred to as Rinyo-Clacton ware, first identified by Stuart Piggott in the 1950s, rinyo is a neolithic settlement on the island of Rousay, Orkney. The site at Clacton now lies under the sea, one way the tradition may have spread is through trade routes up the west coast of Britain. What seems unusual is that although they shared the style of pottery. Evidence at some early Henges suggests that there were staging and trading points on a motorway during the Neolithic. This evidence perhaps explains how Cumbrian stone axes found their way to Orkney, Unstan ware, a variation on grooved ware, emerged in Orkney. The people who used Unstan ware had totally different burial practices, some hybrid chambered cairns have emerged in this region, containing architectural features of both the Maeshowe subclass and the Orkney-Cromarty stalled subclasses of cairn
32.
Unstan ware
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Unstan ware is the name used by archaeologists for a type of finely made and decorated Neolithic pottery from the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. Typical are elegant and distinctive shallow bowls with a band of grooved patterning below the rim, a second version consists of undecorated, round-bottomed bowls. Some of the bowls had bits of volcanic rock included in the clay to make them stronger, after firing, bone tools were used to burnish the surfaces to make them shiny and impermeable. Unstan ware is found in tombs, specifically tombs of the Orkney-Cromarty type. These include the Tomb of the Eagles at Isbister on South Ronaldsay, Unstan ware has been found occasionally at sites in Orkney other than tombs, for example, the farmstead of Knap of Howar on Papa Westray. and in the Western Isles, as at Eilean Domhnuill. Unstan ware may have evolved into the later grooved ware style and this interpretation was originally based primarily on a presumed evolution in pottery styles, from Unstan ware to grooved ware, seen at the settlement of Rinyo on Rousay. D. V. Clarke claimed in 1983 that his investigations at Rinyo had debunked this sequence, in this interpretation of the evidence, grooved ware is associated with the builders of the Maeshowe class of chambered tomb. Prehistoric Orkney Ring of Brodgar Standing Stones of Stenness Maeshowe World Heritage Sites in Scotland Timeline of prehistoric Scotland Castleden, the Stonehenge People, An Exploration of Life in Neolithic Britain 4700-2000 BC. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, Rinyo and the Orcadian Neolithic, in, OConnor, A and Clarke, D. V. From the Stone Age to the Forty Five, Jones, Andrew Meirion, Jones, Richard, Tully, Gemma, Maritan, Lara, Mukherjee, Anna, Evershed, Richard, MacSween, Ann, Richards, Colin, Towers, Card. Prehistoric Pottery from Sites within the Bay of Firth, Stonehall, Crossiecrown, Wideford Hill, Brae of Smerquoy, Muchquoy, Ramberry, the Development of Neolithic House Societies in Orkney. Hedges, John W. Tomb of the Eagles, Death, the Chambered Tombs of Scotland Vol.2. The Chambered Cairns, in, Renfrew, Colin The Prehistory of Orkney BC 4000-1000 AD, Orkney and Shetland, An Archaeological Guide. Newton Abbott, David and Charles Ltd, balbridie, Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 1979. Edinburgh, Council for British Archaeology, Scottish Regional Group, the First Settlers, in, Renfrew, Colin The Prehistory of Orkney BC 4000-1000 AD
33.
Agriculture in prehistoric Scotland
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Agriculture in prehistoric Scotland includes all forms of farm production in the modern boundaries of Scotland before the beginning of the early historic era. Scotland has between a fifth and a sixth of the arable or good pastoral land of England and Wales, mostly in the south, heavy rainfall encouraged the spread of acidic blanket peat bog, which with wind and salt spray, made most of the western islands treeless. Hills, mountains, quicksands and marshes made internal communication and agriculture difficult, in the Neolithic period, from around 6,000 years ago, there is evidence of permanent settlements and farming. The two main sources of food were grain and cows milk, in the early Bronze Age, arable land spread at the expense of forest, but towards the end of the period there is evidence of the abandonment of farming in the uplands and deterioration of soils. From the Iron Age, hill forts in southern Scotland are associated with ridges and terraces. Souterrains, small underground constructions, may have been for storing agricultural products. Extensive prehistoric field systems underlie existing boundaries in some Lowland areas, during the period of Roman occupation of Britain there was re-growth of birch, oak and hazel indicating a reduction in agriculture. This made marginal pastoral farming and fishing, the key factors in the pre-modern economy and its east Atlantic position means that it has very heavy rainfall, today about 700 cm per year in the east and over 1,000 cm in the west. This encouraged the spread of blanket bog, the acidity of which, combined with high level of wind and salt spray. The existence of hills, mountains, quicksands and marshes made agriculture, at times during the last interglacial period Europe had a climate warmer than it is today, and early humans may have made their way to Scotland, though archaeologists have found no traces of this. Glaciers then scoured their way across most of Britain, and only after the ice retreated did Scotland again become habitable, Mesolithic hunter-gatherer encampments formed the first known settlements, and archaeologists have dated an encampment near Biggar to around 8500 BCE. Numerous other sites found around Scotland build up a picture of highly mobile boat-using people making tools from bone, stone and antlers. The oldest house for which there is evidence in Britain is the structure of wooden posts found at South Queensferry near the Firth of Forth, dating from the Mesolithic period. From the Neolithic period, beginning around 6,000 years ago, there is evidence of permanent settlements, evidence of prehistoric farming includes small plots of improved land, with simple stone boundaries. On Shetland these have found under peat and on the mainland they are associated with cairnfields. There was removal of woodland in areas of good coastal or river access where archaeological remains from the period are most abundant. There is also limited evidence of the cultivation of flax from this period. From the beginning of the Bronze Age, about 2000 BCE, the oak-birch woodlands were eroded in the more accessible areas of the uplands by seasonal grazing of livestock and through some use of slash and burn and woodcutting methods of clearance
34.
Caledonians
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The Caledonians or the Caledonian Confederacy were a group of indigenous peoples of what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman eras. The name is an exonym, the Ancient Greeks and Romans knew their territory as Caledonia, the Caledonians were initially considered to be a group of Britons, but were later distinguished as the Picts, a related people who nonetheless spoke a Brittonic language. The Caledonian Britons were enemies of the Roman Empire, which was the force then administering most of Great Britain as the Roman province of Britannia. The Caledonians, like many Celtic tribes in Britain, were builders and farmers who defeated and were defeated by the Romans on several occasions. The Romans never fully occupied Caledonia, though attempts were made. Nearly all of the information available about the Caledonians is based on predominately Roman sources, the Romans reached an accommodation with Brythonic tribes such as the Votadini as effective buffer states. According to Zimmer, Caledonia is derived from the tribal name Caledones, in AD83 or 84, led by Calgacus, the Caledonians defeat at the hands of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at Mons Graupius is recorded by Tacitus. Tacitus records the physical characteristics of the Caledonians as red hair and this suggests that they were capable of making formal agreements in unison despite supposedly having many different chieftains. He says the Caledonians broke the treaties they had made with Marcellus a few years earlier, the governor who arrived to oversee the regaining of control over Britannia after Albinus defeat, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from the Maeatae rather than fight them. Herodian and Dio wrote only in passing of the campaign but describe the Caledonians ceding territory to Rome as being the result, cassius Dio records that the Caledonians inflicted 50,000 Roman casualties due to attrition and unconventional tactics such as guerrilla warfare. By 210 however, the Caledonians had re-formed their alliance with the Maeatae, a punitive expedition led by Severus son, Caracalla, was sent out with the purpose of slaughtering everyone it encountered from any of the northern tribes. Severus meanwhile prepared for total conquest but was ill, he died at Eboracum in Britannia in 211. Malcolm Todd however considers there to be no evidence to support this, nonetheless the Caledonians did retake their territory and pushed the Romans back to Hadrians Wall. In any event, there is no historical mention of the Caledonians for a century save for a c. AD230 inscription from Colchester which records a dedication by a man calling himself the nephew of Uepogenus and this may be because Severus campaigns were so successful that the Caledonians were wiped out, however this is highly unlikely. The event is notable in that it includes the first recorded use of the term Pict to describe the tribes of the area, jordanes in his Getica wrote something similar. The inhabitants of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed bodies. Eumenius, the panegyrist of Constantine Chlorus, wrote both the Picts and Caledonians were red haired. Scholars such as William Forbes Skene noted that this description matches Tacitus description of the Caledonians as red haired in his Agricola, there is little direct evidence of a Caledonian archaeological culture but it is possible to describe the settlements in their territory during their existence
35.
Caereni
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The Caereni were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. From his general description and the locations of their neighbours. Ptolemy does not provide them with a town or principal place, the name may mean Sheep People, referring presumably to a pastoral way of life. Compare Caereni to modern Gaelic caorach, sheep
36.
Kingdom of Cat
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Cait or Cat was a Pictish kingdom during the Early Middle Ages. It was centred in what is now Caithness in northern Scotland and it was, according to Pictish legend, founded by Caitt, one of the seven sons of the ancestor figure Cruithne. For a period of time Cait was the largest of the northern Pictish kingdoms, after the death of its last king, Taran mac Entifidich, in 697, it was absorbed into the broader Pictish kingdom. The name is preserved in the modern placename Caithness, which occupies approximately the location as the ancient kingdom. The name is preserved in the Gaelic name for Sutherland, in several specific names within that county. Watson compares this usage with the early Irish Innse Orc for Orkney, legends of Clan Chattan suggest that Madoc the father of St Chattan, had retreated to Dál Riata after losing Cat to the Norse. Thus Clan Chattan or Caitt-an is recognised by the Lord of the Isles as being of Pictish descent when he ratifies the Clan Chattan document, fortriu Kingdom of Ce Scotland in the Early Middle Ages Watson, William J
37.
Cornovii (Caithness)
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The Cornovii were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. From his description, their territory is known to have been at the northern tip of Scotland. Ptolemy does not provide them with a town or principal place, Cornovii for a discussion of the possible etymology of the tribal name
38.
Damnonii
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The Damnonii were a Brittonic people of the late 2nd century who lived in what became the Kingdom of Strathclyde by the Early Middle Ages, and is now southern Scotland. Their cultural and linguistic affinity is presumed to be Brythonic, however, there is no unbroken historical record, and a partly Pictish origin is not precluded. Ptolemys Geography was written within this timeframe, so his account is contemporary, the sole record of the Damnonii and their towns is their mention by Ptolemy. They are found in no other source, Ptolemy says that the towns of the Damnonii were Vanduara, Colania, Coria, Alauna, Lindum, and Victoria. However, there were no towns as such in the area at time, so he was likely referring to Roman military camps. Reflecting the lack of evidence, there is agreement on assigning modern locations to the towns. Among the assignments made by those whose work is considered to be authoritative are those of William Baxter, William Camden, John Horsley, William Forbes Skene, George Chalmers, and William Roy. Other historians either quote one of these as the authority for assigning locations to Ptolemys towns, a few offer lists of the assertions of the above authorities. Alauna is suggested to be the Camelon that is near and to the west of Falkirk, or at Stirling, or Kier, Colania is suggested to be Lanark or Carstairs, or some other place on the east side of Clydesdale. Coria is suggested to be Lynekirk (about 4 miles WNW of Peebles, Lindum is suggested to be Kirkintilloch, or Linlithgow, or near Ardoch. Victoria is suggested to be Dalginross (about 5 miles W of Crieff, Vanduara is suggested to be Paisley or Renfrew, or some 20 miles south of Glasgow at Loudoun Hill. Chalmers and Roy in particular were believers in the authenticity at the time wrote. De Situ Britanniae generally followed Ptolemys map but made novel assertions regarding Damnonii towns, Ptolemys Geography Scotland during the Roman Empire Roman Britain Novantae Otalini Selgovae Walls Loch
39.
Decantae
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The Decantae were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. From his general description and the locations of their neighbors, their territory was along the western coast of the Moray Firth. Ptolemy does not provide them with a town or principal place, the name has a base either in the Celtic root *deko-, meaning good or the best. There were similarly named peoples in Wales, the Deceangli and in Liguria, the Deciates, as well as a Gaulish personal name Decantilla
40.
Lugi
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The Lugi were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. From his general description and the locations of their neighbors their territory was along the western coast of the Moray Firth. Ptolemy does not provide them with a town or principal place
41.
Novantae
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The Novantae were a people of the late 2nd century who lived in what is now Galloway and Carrick, in southwestern-most Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemys Geography, and there is no historical record of them. ”Scottish author Edward Grant Ries has identified the Novantae as a Brythonic-speaking culture. The only reliable historical reference to the Novantae is from the Geography of Ptolemy in c,150, where he gives their homeland and primary towns. They are found in no other source and they are unique among the peoples that Ptolemy names in that their location is reliably known due to the way he named several readily identifiable physical features. His Novantarum Cheronesus is the Rhins of Galloway, and his Novantarum promontory is the Mull of Galloway and this pins the Novantae to that area. Ptolemy says that their towns were Locopibium and Rerigonium, as there were no towns as such in the area at that time, he was likely referring to native strong points such as duns or royal courts. The earliest reliable information on the region of Galloway and Carrick when it was inhabited by the Novantae comes from archaeological discoveries. They lived in small enclosed settlements, most of less than a single hectare in area. They also constructed hillforts and a number of crannogs and brochs. This had been abandoned by the Roman period but there is evidence that the Romans used it as the target of a military exercise, the only Roman military presence was a small fortlet at Gatehouse of Fleet, in the southeastern part of Novantae territory. The Roman remains that have been excavated are portable, such as might be carried or transported into the region, the absence of evidence of Roman presence is in sharp contrast to the many remains of native habitation and strong points. Rispain Camp near Whithorn, once thought to be Roman, is now known to be the remains of a fortified farmstead, occupied by natives before. In his account of the campaigns of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Tacitus offers no information on the peoples then living in Scotland. He says that after a combination of force and diplomacy quieted discontent among the Britons who had been conquered previously, in 80 he marched to the Firth of Tay, campaigning against the peoples there. He did not return until 81, at time he consolidated his gains in the lands that he had conquered. The Novantae were later said to have caused trouble along Hadrians Wall, the Novantae disappear from the historical record after the end of the Roman occupation, with their territory supplanted by the kingdoms of Rheged and Gododdin. A kingdom called Novant appears in the medieval Welsh poem Y Gododdin, the poem commemorates the Battle of Catraeth, in which an army raised by Gododdin attempted an ill-fated raid on the Angles of Bernicia. The work elegises the various warriors who fought alongside the Gododdin, among them the Three Chiefs of Novant and this Novant is evidently related to the Novantae tribe of the Iron Age
42.
Picts
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The Picts were a tribal confederation of peoples who lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval periods. They are thought to have been ethnolinguistically Celtic, where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from the geographical distribution of brochs, Brittonic place name elements, and Pictish stones. Picts are attested to in records from before the Roman conquest of Britain to the 10th century. Picts are assumed to have been the descendants of the Caledonii, Pictland, also called Pictavia by some sources, gradually merged with the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata to form the Kingdom of Alba. Alba then expanded, absorbing the Brittonic kingdom of Strathclyde and Northumbrian Lothian, Pictish society was typical of many Iron Age societies in northern Europe, having wide connections and parallels with neighbouring groups. Archaeology gives some impression of the society of the Picts, what the Picts called themselves is unknown. The Latin word Picti first occurs in a written by Eumenius in AD297 and is taken to mean painted or tattooed people. Their Old English name gave the modern Scots form Pechts and the Welsh word Fichti and it is generally accepted that this is derived from *Qritani, which is the Goidelic/Q-Celtic version of the Britonnic/P-Celtic *Pritani. From this came Britanni, the Roman name for those now called the Britons and it has been suggested that Cruthin referred to all Britons not conquered by the Romans—those who lived outside Roman Britannia, north of Hadrians Wall. A Pictish confederation was formed in Late Antiquity from a number of tribes—how, some scholars have speculated that it was partly in response to the growth of the Roman Empire. Pictland had previously described by Roman writers and geographers as the home of the Caledonii. These Romans also used names to refer to tribes living in that area, including Verturiones, Taexali. But they may have heard these other names only second- or third-hand, from speakers of Brittonic or Gaulish languages, Pictish recorded history begins in the Dark Ages. It appears that Picts were not the dominant power in Northern Britain for that entire period, the Gaels of Dál Riata controlled what is present day Argyll for a time, although they suffered a series of defeats in the first third of the 7th century. The Angles of Bernicia overwhelmed the adjacent British kingdoms, one of which, the Picts were probably tributary to Northumbria until the reign of Bridei mac Beli, when, in 685, the Anglians suffered a defeat at the Battle of Dun Nechtain that halted their northward expansion. The Northumbrians continued to dominate southern Scotland for the remainder of the Pictish period, a later Pictish king, Caustantín mac Fergusa, placed his son Domnall on the throne of Dál Riata. Pictish attempts to achieve a dominance over the Britons of Alt Clut were not successful. The Viking Age brought great changes in Britain and Ireland, no less in Scotland than elsewhere, in a major battle in 839, the Vikings killed the king of Fortriu, Eógan mac Óengusa, the king of Dál Riata Áed mac Boanta, and many others
43.
Selgovae
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The Selgovae were a people of the late 2nd century who lived in what is now the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Dumfriesshire, on the southern coast of Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemys Geography, and there is no historical record of them. Their cultural and ethnic affinity is commonly assumed to have been Brittonic, assertions that the Solway Firth preserves the name of the Selgovae are without foundation. Solway is Anglo-Saxon from the century, and this was the name of the main crossing at Eskmouth at that time. The firth has been known by names in the past. The sole record of the Selgovae and their towns is their mention by Ptolemy in c, the Novantae are unique among the peoples that Ptolemy names in that their location is reliably known to have been in Galloway due to the way he named several readily identifiable physical features. Since the Selgovae were adjacent to them, their homeland is similarly known, Ptolemy said that the towns of the Selgovae were Carbantorigum, Uxellum, Corda, and Trimontium. However, there were no towns as such in the area at time, so he was probably referring to Roman military camps. In the 19th Century, Carbantorigum was thought to be the Moat of Urr by Skene, Uxellum was at Wardlaw Hill at Caerlaverock according to Skene and Horsley, it was noted that the name sounds like Welsh uchel or Gaelic uas, uasal. Corda was at Sanquhar, according to Skene, Trimontium was at Birrenswark Hill, according to Skene, who says its name probably represents Welsh Tref mynydd. Rhys, agreeing with Wyntoun, thought that Selgovae means the hunters and they had possibly lived in the area since the Bronze Age, and certainly during the pre-Roman Iron Age. They are thought to have had a centre at Eildon Hill North near Melrose. In 80 he marched to the Firth of Tay, campaigning against the peoples there and he did not return until 81, at which time he consolidated his gains in the lands that he had conquered. This suggests that the Selgovae were among the British peoples who had strongly resisted Roman occupation and this is in contrast to the neighbouring Novantae, where there are no signs of Roman occupation save the fortlet at Gatehouse of Fleet, in the southeast of their territory. Following the reorganisation of northern Roman Britain and the construction of Hadrians Wall, there were no Roman forts planted in the territory of the neighbouring Novantae. Rome permanently abandoned Selgovae territory by 370, the ethnic and cultural affinity of the Selgovae is assumed to have been Brittonic and there have been suggestions that they were an integral part of the tribe of the Brigantes. The Brigantes were troublesome to Roman rule, strongly resisting initial Roman occupation, the Roman response was overwhelming force and the subsequent heavy plantation of forts of occupation. Ptolemys placement of the Selgovaean town of Trimontium was accepted to be somewhere along the southern coast of Scotland until William Roy placed it far to the east at Eildon Hills, near Newstead
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Smertae
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The Smertae were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. From his general description and the locations of their neighbors. Ptolemy does not provide them with a town or principal place and their name is commemorated by Càrn Smeart, an ancient burial mound on the ridge between the rivers Carron and Oykel. The etymology of the name Smertae is not known for certain
