A Long-Lost Dark Age Kingdom Has Been Rediscovered In Scotland
A Long-Lost Dark Age Kingdom Has Been Rediscovered In Scotland
Once upon a time in Britain, shortly after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, barbarians swept the lands and chaos reigned. Kingdoms quickly rose before being conquered or destroyed. Grand structures and architectural glories from the so-called Dark Ages have since been lost to time, but as reported by LiveScience, the very core of one of these kingdoms may have recently been found.
A new book, “The Lost Dark Age Kingdom of Rheged”, tells the tale of how archaeologists stumbled across some of the original fortifications at Trusty’s Hill in Galloway, Scotland. They were there as part of the Galloway Picts Project, a 2012 initiative aimed at studying the engravings left in stone by an early medieval people named the Picts.
After an excavation around the engravings, researchers found timber and stone fortifications poking up through the ground. A little more digging revealed that a smith’s workshop – which used both silver and gold – and even a royal hall was lurking just beneath the surface. In fact, it looks like the structure was something called a “nucleated fort”, a bastion that shielded local royalty from their surrounding land.
The private firm GUARD Archaeology, which led the excavation along with 60 volunteers, say that the ruins date back to the year 600. It was clearly the center of a territory owned by someone or a family of incredibly high status, and could even have been the heart of the Kingdom of Rheged, ruled by King Urien.
More:
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/longlost-dark-age-kingdom-rediscovered-scotland/
= new reply since forum marked as read
That photo is from the Isle of Skye...climbed to the base once upon a time...very beautiful. Thanks for this post!
