The Early Medieval Landscape Of Donside, Aberdeenshire

Fraser, Iain L.; Halliday, Stratford

doi:10.1163/ej.9789004187597.i-384.70

Cited by 3 publications

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“…According to the authors of this paper, the boundaries used to deliniate medieval parishes likely preserve elements of an earlier secular organisation. 77 However, rural Aberdeenshire is notable for its relative density of Pictish stones and trying to apply this methodology elsewhere in northern Scotland would certainly be futile.…”

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1. A New Look at an Old Tub: The Historiography of the Dabhach

Ross¹

2015

The Medieval Countryside

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

1. A New Look at an Old Tub: The Historiography of the Dabhach

Ross¹

2015

The Medieval Countryside

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

Cook¹

2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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

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An Overlooked Gem of Pictish Art: The Cross-Slab Fragment from St Ringan’s Cairn in Aberdeenshire

Ritchie¹,

Thickpenny²

2021

Medieval Archaeology

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A little-known fragment of cross-slab from St Ringan's Cairn in the Grampian Mountains of Aberdeenshire is identified as a significant example of Pictish sculptural art of the late 8th or early 9th centuries. It was created by a skilled stone carver with an exceptional sense of design, probably based in a monastery in southern Aberdeenshire or Angus, and its location marked an important route through the mountains between north and south Pictland.At a seminar on Scotland's early medieval sculpture held in 2003, Isabel Henderson drew attention to several fragmentary carved stones which she termed 'fragments of significance'. 3 These indicate evidence of quality of design and carving, knowledge of art styles used in manuscripts and high-status metalwork, and communication of ideas between north and south Pictland. 4 The purpose of this paper is partly to add another fragment to this select group of significant pieces and to show how it fits into their criteria of excellence. In addition, the provenance of the cross-slab allows conjecture about its function and about the location of the stone-carving workshop that produced it. The author's attention was drawn to the cross-slab and socket stone from St Ringan's Cairn by the publication in 2007 of John Borland's drawings, which show the very high quality of carving displayed by the fragment of what must once have been an impressive cross-slab. 5 Although the carved stones were discovered in 1964, they were not recorded accurately until 2005, when the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland drew them in the University of Aberdeen Museums and Collections in Marischal College. St Ringan's Cairn lay on the 320m contour just below the crest of Redstone Hill, which is a spur dropping south-south-east from Cairn

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The Early Medieval Landscape Of Donside, Aberdeenshire

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

1. A New Look at an Old Tub: The Historiography of the Dabhach

1. A New Look at an Old Tub: The Historiography of the Dabhach

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

An Overlooked Gem of Pictish Art: The Cross-Slab Fragment from St Ringan’s Cairn in Aberdeenshire

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