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Dunnicaer

May 19, 2023

Dunnicaer, or Dun-na-caer, is a precipitous sea stack just off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, between Dunnottar Castle and Stonehaven. Despite the unusual difficulty of access, in 1832 Pictish symbol stones were found on the summit and 21st-century archaeology has discovered evidence of a Pictish hill fort which may have incorporated the stones in its structure. The stones may have been incised in the third or fourth centuries AD but this goes against the general archaeological view that the simplest and earliest (Class I) symbol stones date from the fifth or even seventh century AD.

Dunnicaer from Bowdun Head to the south

Sea stack

 
 
Dunnicaer
class=notpageimage|
Dunnicaer in Scotland.

Sited between Stonehaven and the similarly situated Dunnottar Castle, the sea stack is in Strathlethan Bay, with Downie Point to the north and just offshore from the cliffs at Bowdun Head to the south. It is cut off from the mainland at high tide and the flat, grassy summit is entirely surrounded by precipitous cliffs some 30–35 metres (100–115 ft) high.[1][2] The conglomerate rock is lower Old Red Sandstone.[3] At the time of the hill fort the location may have been a promontory and subsequent erosion of the cliffs has turned it into a stack with a summit plateau about 20 by 12 metres (66 ft × 39 ft), much smaller than it was in Pictish times.[4][5][6]

Hill fort

 
Aerial photo of fort excavation (north is to the top right)
Aerial video
  Drone photography of Dunnicaer during excavation[7]

During archaeological investigations on the summit in 1977 and 1982 nothing of significance was found.[8] In 2015 new excavations by an Aberdeen University team started to reveal the presence of a hill fort and excavations were continued in the following years.[9] There had been a stone rampart framed with timbers leading southwest to the mainland. From radiocarbon dating of the timber the fort has been dated to being used between the second and fourth centuries AD making it the earliest known Pictish fort in Scotland.[note 1] A hearth and the footings of internal rooms have been found. Glass, samian ware and black-burnished ware pottery and a lead weight have been excavated: all unusual for so far north of the frontier of the Roman empire.[10] Over the centuries some parts of the fort have collapsed away with the erosion of the surrounding cliffs, particularly to the east.[1][4][11]

The discoveries suggest that the fort was a substantial, high-status building, with stone and oak timbers brought in from a distance.[12][13] It was later abandoned, possibly when the inhabitants moved to Dunnottar,[note 2] and possibly because of problems with the erosion of the stack.[16][5]

Symbol stones

Lithographs of symbol stones (1856 & 1867)
 
Illustrator: P.A. Jastrzębski[note 3]
(1) 0.69 m x 0.46 m – double disc and Z-rod
(2) 0.68 m x 0.38 m – fish symbol with triangle and central dot[17][18]
 
Illlustrator: Andrew Gibb
(1) 0.46 m x 0.23 m – crescent with triangle

(2) 0.68 m x 0.38 m – double disc and Z-rod
(3) 0.38 m x 0.15 m – double disc

(4) 0.1 m cube – various incisions[19][18]

As early as 1819 a symbol stone had been prised from the stack to be used as a hearthstone but the inscriptions had excited little interest. In 1832 some youths had climbed up and found a wall on the summit plateau of the stack. They threw some of the stones down into the sea and when they were later recovered some of them proved to be Pictish symbol stones.[20]

In 1857 these symbol stones were documented by Alexander Thomson.[18][21][note 4] They were illustrated in John Stuart's 1856 and 1867 volumes of The Sculptured Stones of Scotland published by the Spalding Club.[18][17][19] A thorough description of the symbols was published in 1992.[24] One stone is now in the Marischal Museum and the others are at Banchory House.[18][note 5] The design and relatively small size of the stones is unusual and it shows them to be of an early date[26] – they were probably set into the wall of the rampart that has been dated as third to fourth century AD.[4][14] – this is a much earlier date than the conventional view that the simplest and earliest (Class I) stones are from the fifth or even seventh century AD.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ In particular, it predates any archaeological finds at the site of Dunnottar Castle to the south.[5]
  2. ^ Dunnottar is described in the Annals of Ulster as being under siege[14] in 681 and 694 AD, presumably derived from accounts recorded contemporaneously at Iona.[15]
  3. ^ Jastrzębski acknowledged by Stuart as "Mr. Jastresbski" but the plate is signed "P.A. Jastrzębski". The lithographers were the Aberdeen firm of Keith and Gibb.
  4. ^ Canmore dates this to 1860 but the Archaeology Data Service gives 1857.[18][22] Thomson called the site "Dinnacair"[23] but there is no reason to suppose this was because of a disappointing reaction from his colleagues in Glasgow.
  5. ^ Banchory House became known as Banchory-Devenick House or Beannachar House. The cubic stone is missing; the 0.68 m x 0.38 m double disc and Z-rod stone is in the Marischal Museum; and the others are at Beannacher House.[25]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Noble, Gordon. "The Northern Picts Project". www.abdn.ac.uk. University of Aberdeen. from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  2. ^ Alcock & Alcock (1992), p. 280.
  3. ^ Gillen, C.; Trewin, N.H. (1987). "23. Dunnottar to Stonehaven and the Highland Boundary Fault". In Trewin, N.H.; Kneller, B.C.; Gillen, C. (eds.). Excursion Guide to the Geology of the Aberdeen Area. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. pp. 265–273. ISBN 0-7073-0496-2.
  4. ^ a b c Noble & Sveinbjarnarson (2015), p. 19.
  5. ^ a b c "Evidence stacks up that rocky outcrop was home to earliest Pictish fort". www.abdn.ac.uk. University of Aberdeen. 28 July 2015. from the original on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  6. ^ Noble, Goldberg & Hamilton (2018), pp. 1334–1335.
  7. ^ Howell, John (16 December 2015). Drone images of Dunnicaer. Noble, Gordon. Aberdeen University. from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  8. ^ Alcock & Alcock (1992), p. 281.
  9. ^ Stalker, Fiona (16 April 2015). "'Significant' Pictish fort discovery". BBC News. from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
    Stalker, Fiona (16 April 2015). "'Significant' Pictish fort found off Aberdeenshire coast". BBC News. from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
    Stalker, Fiona (28 July 2015). "Pictish fort 'is Scotland's oldest'". BBC News. from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
    "Second excavation at sea stack fort". BBC News. 15 April 2016. from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  10. ^ Noble, Goldberg & Hamilton (2018), p. 1335.
  11. ^ Noble, Goldberg & Hamilton (2018), p. 1339.
  12. ^ "Archaeologists unearth 'oldest Pictish fort in Scotland' on Aberdeenshire sea stack". HeraldScotland. 28 July 2015. from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  13. ^ Campsie, Alison (27 October 2018). "Pictish Stones paint a different picture as experts say they date back to third century". The Scotsman. from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  14. ^ a b Noble, Goldberg & Hamilton (2018), p. 1334.
  15. ^ Alcock & Alcock (1992), p. 267.
  16. ^ Keate, Georgie (29 July 2015). "'Extreme' archaeologists discover Scotland's oldest Pictish fort". The Times. from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  17. ^ a b Stuart (1856), pp. 14 & Plate XLI.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Historic Environment Scotland. "Dunnicaer (37001)". Canmore. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  19. ^ a b Stuart (1867), pp. 9 & Plate XV.
  20. ^ Thomson (1857), p. 70.
  21. ^ Thomson (1857).
  22. ^ "Thomson, A., (1857). Notice of Sculptured Stones found at 'Dinnacair', near Stonehaven". ADS Library. Acchaeology Data Service. from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  23. ^ Thomson (1857), p. 69.
  24. ^ Alcock & Alcock (1992), pp. 278–280.
  25. ^ Golux (12 May 2010). "Dunnicaer symbol stones". Flickr.com. from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  26. ^ Henderson & Henderson (2011), p. 171.
  27. ^ Noble, Goldberg & Hamilton (2018), pp. 1341–1342.

Works cited

  • Alcock, Leslie; Alcock, Elizabeth A. (1992). "Reconnaissance excavations on Early Historic fortifications and other royal sites in Scotland, 1974–84; 5: A, Excavations & other fieldwork at Forteviot, Perthshire, 1981; B, Excavations at Urquhart Castle, Inverness-shire, 1983; C, Excavations at Dunnottar, Kincardineshire, 1984" (PDF). Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 122: 276–282.
  • Henderson, George; Henderson, Isabel (2011). The art of the Picts : sculpture and metalwork in early medieval Scotland. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28963-1.
  • Noble, Gordon; Sveinbjarnarson, Oskar (2015). Milburn, Paula (ed.). "Dunnottar Dunnicaer Sea Stack" (PDF). Discovery and Excavation in Scotland. Archaeology Scotland. 16: 19.
  • Noble, Gordon; Goldberg, Martin; Hamilton, Derek (26 October 2018). "The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire" (PDF). Antiquity. 92 (365): 1329–1348. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.68.
  • Stuart, John (1856). Sculptured Stones Of Scotland. illustrated by Andrew Gibb & P.A. Jastrzebski, lithographers Keith & Gibb. Spalding Club.
  • Stuart, John (1867). Sculptured Stones Of Scotland Vol 2. illustrated by Andrew Gibb, lithographers Keith & Gibb. Spalding Club.
  • Thomson, Alexander (1857). "Notice of Sculptured Stones found at "Dinnacair" a Rock in the sea, near Stonehaven" (PDF). Proc Soc Antiq Scot. 3 (1): 69–76.

Further reading

  • Chalmers, Patrick (1848). The Ancient sculptured monuments of the County of Angus. illustrated by P.A. Jastrzebski. Edinburgh: Patrick Chalmers. – the illustrator also drew some of the images in Stuart's first volume of Sculptured Stones Of Scotland

External links

  • "Stunning video shows how 'earliest Pictish fort' could have looked". University of Aberdeen. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.

Coordinates: 56°57′10″N 02°11′43″W / 56.95278°N 2.19528°W / 56.95278; -2.19528

May 19, 2023
dunnicaer, caer, precipitous, stack, just, coast, aberdeenshire, scotland, between, dunnottar, castle, stonehaven, despite, unusual, difficulty, access, 1832, pictish, symbol, stones, were, found, summit, 21st, century, archaeology, discovered, evidence, picti. Dunnicaer or Dun na caer is a precipitous sea stack just off the coast of Aberdeenshire Scotland between Dunnottar Castle and Stonehaven Despite the unusual difficulty of access in 1832 Pictish symbol stones were found on the summit and 21st century archaeology has discovered evidence of a Pictish hill fort which may have incorporated the stones in its structure The stones may have been incised in the third or fourth centuries AD but this goes against the general archaeological view that the simplest and earliest Class I symbol stones date from the fifth or even seventh century AD Dunnicaer from Bowdun Head to the south Contents 1 Sea stack 2 Hill fort 3 Symbol stones 4 Notes 5 References 5 1 Citations 5 2 Works cited 6 Further reading 7 External linksSea stack Edit Dunnicaerclass notpageimage Dunnicaer in Scotland Sited between Stonehaven and the similarly situated Dunnottar Castle the sea stack is in Strathlethan Bay with Downie Point to the north and just offshore from the cliffs at Bowdun Head to the south It is cut off from the mainland at high tide and the flat grassy summit is entirely surrounded by precipitous cliffs some 30 35 metres 100 115 ft high 1 2 The conglomerate rock is lower Old Red Sandstone 3 At the time of the hill fort the location may have been a promontory and subsequent erosion of the cliffs has turned it into a stack with a summit plateau about 20 by 12 metres 66 ft 39 ft much smaller than it was in Pictish times 4 5 6 Hill fort Edit Aerial photo of fort excavation north is to the top right Aerial video Drone photography of Dunnicaer during excavation 7 During archaeological investigations on the summit in 1977 and 1982 nothing of significance was found 8 In 2015 new excavations by an Aberdeen University team started to reveal the presence of a hill fort and excavations were continued in the following years 9 There had been a stone rampart framed with timbers leading southwest to the mainland From radiocarbon dating of the timber the fort has been dated to being used between the second and fourth centuries AD making it the earliest known Pictish fort in Scotland note 1 A hearth and the footings of internal rooms have been found Glass samian ware and black burnished ware pottery and a lead weight have been excavated all unusual for so far north of the frontier of the Roman empire 10 Over the centuries some parts of the fort have collapsed away with the erosion of the surrounding cliffs particularly to the east 1 4 11 The discoveries suggest that the fort was a substantial high status building with stone and oak timbers brought in from a distance 12 13 It was later abandoned possibly when the inhabitants moved to Dunnottar note 2 and possibly because of problems with the erosion of the stack 16 5 Symbol stones EditLithographs of symbol stones 1856 amp 1867 Illustrator P A Jastrzebski note 3 1 0 69 m x 0 46 m double disc and Z rod 2 0 68 m x 0 38 m fish symbol with triangle and central dot 17 18 Illlustrator Andrew Gibb 1 0 46 m x 0 23 m crescent with triangle 2 0 68 m x 0 38 m double disc and Z rod 3 0 38 m x 0 15 m double disc 4 0 1 m cube various incisions 19 18 As early as 1819 a symbol stone had been prised from the stack to be used as a hearthstone but the inscriptions had excited little interest In 1832 some youths had climbed up and found a wall on the summit plateau of the stack They threw some of the stones down into the sea and when they were later recovered some of them proved to be Pictish symbol stones 20 In 1857 these symbol stones were documented by Alexander Thomson 18 21 note 4 They were illustrated in John Stuart s 1856 and 1867 volumes of The Sculptured Stones of Scotland published by the Spalding Club 18 17 19 A thorough description of the symbols was published in 1992 24 One stone is now in the Marischal Museum and the others are at Banchory House 18 note 5 The design and relatively small size of the stones is unusual and it shows them to be of an early date 26 they were probably set into the wall of the rampart that has been dated as third to fourth century AD 4 14 this is a much earlier date than the conventional view that the simplest and earliest Class I stones are from the fifth or even seventh century AD 27 Notes Edit In particular it predates any archaeological finds at the site of Dunnottar Castle to the south 5 Dunnottar is described in the Annals of Ulster as being under siege 14 in 681 and 694 AD presumably derived from accounts recorded contemporaneously at Iona 15 Jastrzebski acknowledged by Stuart as Mr Jastresbski but the plate is signed P A Jastrzebski The lithographers were the Aberdeen firm of Keith and Gibb Canmore dates this to 1860 but the Archaeology Data Service gives 1857 18 22 Thomson called the site Dinnacair 23 but there is no reason to suppose this was because of a disappointing reaction from his colleagues in Glasgow Banchory House became known as Banchory Devenick House or Beannachar House The cubic stone is missing the 0 68 m x 0 38 m double disc and Z rod stone is in the Marischal Museum and the others are at Beannacher House 25 References EditCitations Edit a b Noble Gordon The Northern Picts Project www abdn ac uk University of Aberdeen Archived from the original on 13 March 2017 Retrieved 10 January 2019 Alcock amp Alcock 1992 p 280 Gillen C Trewin N H 1987 23 Dunnottar to Stonehaven and the Highland Boundary Fault In Trewin N H Kneller B C Gillen C eds Excursion Guide to the Geology of the Aberdeen Area Edinburgh Scottish Academic Press pp 265 273 ISBN 0 7073 0496 2 a b c Noble amp Sveinbjarnarson 2015 p 19 a b c Evidence stacks up that rocky outcrop was home to earliest Pictish fort www abdn ac uk University of Aberdeen 28 July 2015 Archived from the original on 16 September 2015 Retrieved 10 January 2019 Noble Goldberg amp Hamilton 2018 pp 1334 1335 Howell John 16 December 2015 Drone images of Dunnicaer Noble Gordon Aberdeen University Archived from the original on 11 January 2019 Retrieved 10 January 2019 Alcock amp Alcock 1992 p 281 Stalker Fiona 16 April 2015 Significant Pictish fort discovery BBC News Archived from the original on 13 January 2017 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Stalker Fiona 16 April 2015 Significant Pictish fort found off Aberdeenshire coast BBC News Archived from the original on 13 January 2017 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Stalker Fiona 28 July 2015 Pictish fort is Scotland s oldest BBC News Archived from the original on 15 April 2019 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Second excavation at sea stack fort BBC News 15 April 2016 Archived from the original on 15 May 2016 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Noble Goldberg amp Hamilton 2018 p 1335 Noble Goldberg amp Hamilton 2018 p 1339 Archaeologists unearth oldest Pictish fort in Scotland on Aberdeenshire sea stack HeraldScotland 28 July 2015 Archived from the original on 10 January 2016 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Campsie Alison 27 October 2018 Pictish Stones paint a different picture as experts say they date back to third century The Scotsman Archived from the original on 11 January 2019 Retrieved 11 January 2019 a b Noble Goldberg amp Hamilton 2018 p 1334 Alcock amp Alcock 1992 p 267 Keate Georgie 29 July 2015 Extreme archaeologists discover Scotland s oldest Pictish fort The Times Archived from the original on 12 January 2019 Retrieved 11 January 2019 a b Stuart 1856 pp 14 amp Plate XLI a b c d e f Historic Environment Scotland Dunnicaer 37001 Canmore Retrieved 10 January 2019 a b Stuart 1867 pp 9 amp Plate XV Thomson 1857 p 70 Thomson 1857 Thomson A 1857 Notice of Sculptured Stones found at Dinnacair near Stonehaven ADS Library Acchaeology Data Service Archived from the original on 15 January 2019 Retrieved 14 January 2019 Thomson 1857 p 69 Alcock amp Alcock 1992 pp 278 280 Golux 12 May 2010 Dunnicaer symbol stones Flickr com Archived from the original on 11 January 2019 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Henderson amp Henderson 2011 p 171 Noble Goldberg amp Hamilton 2018 pp 1341 1342 Works cited Edit Alcock Leslie Alcock Elizabeth A 1992 Reconnaissance excavations on Early Historic fortifications and other royal sites in Scotland 1974 84 5 A Excavations amp other fieldwork at Forteviot Perthshire 1981 B Excavations at Urquhart Castle Inverness shire 1983 C Excavations at Dunnottar Kincardineshire 1984 PDF Proc Soc Antiq Scot 122 276 282 Henderson George Henderson Isabel 2011 The art of the Picts sculpture and metalwork in early medieval Scotland Thames amp Hudson ISBN 978 0 500 28963 1 Noble Gordon Sveinbjarnarson Oskar 2015 Milburn Paula ed Dunnottar Dunnicaer Sea Stack PDF Discovery and Excavation in Scotland Archaeology Scotland 16 19 Noble Gordon Goldberg Martin Hamilton Derek 26 October 2018 The development of the Pictish symbol system inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire PDF Antiquity 92 365 1329 1348 doi 10 15184 aqy 2018 68 Stuart John 1856 Sculptured Stones Of Scotland illustrated by Andrew Gibb amp P A Jastrzebski lithographers Keith amp Gibb Spalding Club Stuart John 1867 Sculptured Stones Of Scotland Vol 2 illustrated by Andrew Gibb lithographers Keith amp Gibb Spalding Club Thomson Alexander 1857 Notice of Sculptured Stones found at Dinnacair a Rock in the sea near Stonehaven PDF Proc Soc Antiq Scot 3 1 69 76 Further reading EditChalmers Patrick 1848 The Ancient sculptured monuments of the County of Angus illustrated by P A Jastrzebski Edinburgh Patrick Chalmers the illustrator also drew some of the images in Stuart s first volume of Sculptured Stones Of ScotlandExternal links Edit Stunning video shows how earliest Pictish fort could have looked University of Aberdeen 29 May 2019 Retrieved 17 February 2021 Coordinates 56 57 10 N 02 11 43 W 56 95278 N 2 19528 W 56 95278 2 19528 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dunnicaer amp oldid 1135089443, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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