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Archaeologists searching for King Arthur's round table have found a "circular feature" beneath the historic King's Knot in Stirling. The King's Knot, a geometrical earthwork in the former royal gardens below Stirling Castle, has been shrouded in mystery for hundreds of years. Though the Knot as it appears today dates from the 1620s, its flat-topped central mound is thought to be much older. Writers going back more than six centuries have linked the landmark to the legend of King Arthur. Archaeologists from Glasgow University, working with the Stirling Local History Society and Stirling Field and Archaeological Society, conducted the first...

Caer Caradoc at Mynydd y Gaer, Glamorgan, is one of the most important locations in all of ancient British history. It is the fabled fortress city of King Caradoc 1, son of Arch, who fought the Romans from 42-51AD. And now, a small team of dedicated researchers working with historians Alan Wilson and Baram Blackett, have been able to pinpoint the location of this site. "It is great news for the local, regional and national economy," said Alan Wilson today. "We have been making these discoveries for many years and with the Electrum Cross discovered at nearby St. Peter's in...

Images pecked in stone hundreds to thousands of years ago could be for religious reasons, to mark territories or simple doodles such as those still made today by children and adults. That is according to Dr. Ekkehart Malotki, a preeminent researcher into the history of rock art. "Creating art is a distinct piece of our biological make-up," he told about 50 people Saturday during his lecture at Deer Valley Rock Art Center. "It is an instinct." Malotki, a professor emeritus of languages at Northern Arizona University, said no one would ever know the true meaning of images pecked or painted...

Study: Megaflood Separated U.K., France Jul 18, 4:22 PM (ET) By THOMAS WAGNER LONDON (AP) - One of Earth's largest-ever megafloods broke apart a strip of land connecting what is now Britain and France, permanently separating them, a new study says. The flood unleashed about 35 million cubic feet of water per second, 100 times greater than the water discharge of the Mississippi River. The natural disaster, which occurred about 400,000 years ago during a glacial period, was later followed by rising sea levels that created what is now the English Channel, the study says. It is not known if...

Who were the Celts? The Celts were a group of peoples that occupied lands stretching from the British Isles to Gallatia. The Celts had many dealings with other cultures that bordered the lands occupied by these peoples, and even though there is no written record of the Celts stemming from their own documents, we can piece together a fair picture of them from archeological evidence as well as historical accounts from other cultures. The first historical recorded encounter of a people displaying the cultural traits associated with the Celts comes from northern Italy around 400 BC, when a previously unkown...

Peoples of Britain By Dr Simon James Did the Celts exist? Simon James asks just who were the Britons - and did the Celts ever really exist? Uncover the fascinating ethnic and cultural history of the peoples of Briton, and assess the impact of the many invaders of Britain's shores. Introduction The story of early Britain has traditionally been told in terms of waves of invaders displacing or annihilating their predecessors. Archaeology suggests that this picture is fundamentally wrong. For over 10,000 years people have been moving into - and out of - Britain, sometimes in substantial numbers, yet there...

'Lost' coronation abbey unearthed Experts have found the abbey where Robert the Bruce was crowned Archaeologists have unearthed the site where Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland. The location of the abbey at Moot Hill, the original home of the Stone of Destiny, was forgotten centuries ago. But it has now been identified by experts from Glasgow University who have been surveying the grounds of Scone Palace for the first time. They used scanners to detect buried structures and found part of the abbey church and a bell tower. The coronation of Pictish and Scottish kings took place...

Sunday, 30 June, 2002, 15:31 GMT 16:31 UK English and Welsh are races apart Gene scientists claim to have found proof that the Welsh are the "true" Britons. The research supports the idea that Celtic Britain underwent a form of ethnic cleansing by Anglo-Saxons invaders following the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century. Genetic tests show clear differences between the Welsh and English It suggests that between 50% and 100% of the indigenous population of what was to become England was wiped out, with Offa's Dyke acting as a "genetic barrier" protecting those on the Welsh side. And the upheaval...

Y chromosomes rewrite British historyAnglo-Saxons' genetic stamp weaker than historians suspected 19 June 2003 HANNAH HOAG Some Scottish men's Y's are remarkably similar to those of southern England. © GettyImages A new survey of Y chromosomes in the British Isles suggests that the Anglo-Saxons failed to leave as much of a genetic stamp on the UK as history books imply1. Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Vikings and Normans invaded Britain repeatedly between 50 BC and AD 1050. Many historians ascribe much of the British ancestry to the Anglo-Saxons because their written legacy overshadows that of the Celts. But the Y chromosomes of...

The people of Jarlshof threw garbage into dumps from before 2500 BC but, although their waste was unwanted, their refuse has been anything but rubbish for archaeologists investigating their lives. We know that the Stone Age settlers lived in small circular stone houses, that they tilled crops, kept cattle and sheep, and harvested the sea for fish and whales, seals and shellfish. They also made tools - some finely decorated - from stone, pottery and bone... In the 19th century the site was visited by Sir Walter Scott who christened the ruined hall "Jarlshof", and the name has stuck since....

Roman brooch find in Shetland extends ancient travel routes STEPHEN STEWART AMATEUR archaeologists may have found Britain's most northerly ancient Roman artefact, it emerged yesterday. The fibula, or brooch, which has been dated to between 50BC and 50AD, could have belonged to an islander returning to the area around Norwick on Shetland after serving in the Roman army. The archaeologists made the find when they were called in after bulldozers unearthed items while extending the graveyard at Norwick. It is highly unusual to find Roman goods so far north and the item gives a revealing insight into trade routes and...

We're nearly all Celts under the skin IAN JOHNSTON SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT A MAJOR genetic study of the population of Britain appears to have put an end to the idea of the "Celtic fringe" of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Instead, a research team at Oxford University has found the majority of Britons are Celts descended from Spanish tribes who began arriving about 7,000 years ago. Even in England, about 64 per cent of people are descended from these Celts, outnumbering the descendants of Anglo- Saxons by about three to one. The proportion of Celts is only slightly higher in Scotland, at...

The Vikings were buried within 10 metres (30ft) of each other. In the 1940s at Ingleby in Derbyshire a burial ground was found, but it held cremated ashes buried in earthenware pots, with few artefacts. The only other group of bodies found was a battlefield cemetery at nearby Repton. The Cumbria burials were completely different. These were clearly not the longship pirates of legend, but a settled, wealthy, peaceful community. Sir Neil added that the find provided rare evidence of Vikings as settlers who integrated into English life.

Scotland's culture minister has thrown her weight behind the bid to make the Antonine Wall a World Heritage Site... Five local authorities are also supporting the bid, which was officially launched in 2003. The Antonine Wall runs 37 miles from Bo'ness, near Falkirk, to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire... built in 140AD to keep Pictish warriors out of the Roman Empire after the conquest of southern Scotland... The Antonine Wall was built after the Romans invaded southern and central Scotland almost 2,000 years ago. It became a monument to the reign of Emperor Antonius Pius but was abandoned after just...

VILLAGERS who protested that a new housing estate would “harm the fairies” living in their midst have forced a property company to scrap its building plans and start again. Marcus Salter, head of Genesis Properties, estimates that the small colony of fairies believed to live beneath a rock in St Fillans, Perthshire, has cost him £15,000. His first notice of the residential sensibilities of the netherworld came as his diggers moved on to a site on the outskirts of the village, which crowns the easterly shore of Loch Earn. He said: “A neighbour came over shouting, ‘Don’t move that rock....

Hellow man, Don`t mind my bad English. Firstly I want to make clear that the berber(we call oure self Amazigh) wich means free people are NOT Lybians!! There are berber tribes in Libia butt that is it. I am from berber origin (Atlas Mountains Morocco) now living in Holland. I am trying to search my identity. I red some artikels obout the Picts Living in Scotland that I found very interesting. I also red in another artikel written by a Scottish missionary, he wrote the article "The Berber oure distant cousins". I know that the Scottish people are a proud...

Archaeologists uncover Aberdeenshire’s hidden history on slopes of Bennachie Archaeologists have uncovered ancient traces, from tiny bead ornaments to massive walls, of a forgotten prince’s palace on the slopes of Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. Only yards from a busy car park used by walkers visiting the landmark hill, a 15-strong team rediscovered remains of Maiden Castle just below the surface of a wooded hillside mound. A stone’s throw from the Rowantree car park, near Pitcaple, and also close to one of the most important Pictish carved monuments in the country, the two-week dig confirmed the importance of the 2,000-year-old fort area....

Lost capital of Scotland uncovered Dark Age fort found near Wallace Monument proves Stirling was home of Scottish warlords By Jenifer Johnston Workers laying cables to floodlight the National Wallace Monument have uncovered a 1500-year-old citadel which confirms the site of Scotland's lost capital. Archaeologists believe the ruins establish a much earlier time of sophisticated battles near Stirling. An archaeological report published yesterday reveals that the cliff-top fortification on the volcanic Abbey Craig was a 'Dark Age citadel' occupied between 500 and 780AD. The discovery of entrances, stone walls and timber ramparts provides the first evidence that Stirling was one...

A PICTISH stone found in Cunningsburgh has been described as the most important archaeological discovery in Shetland for 10 years. It was found in Mail cemetery by gravedigger Malcolm Smith, his second such find in 16 years The sculptured stone is inscribed with mysterious symbols and dates back to the dark ages. It is the ninth stone of its kind to be discovered in the same area in the last 130 years. Its significance has been high­lighted by Dr Ian Tait, collections curator at the Shetland Museum and Archives. “It is extremely exciting because it is a single find which...

Archaeologists working near the village of Dunning found an Iron Age broch which has evidence of early contact between the Picts and the Roman Empire. The broch -- a drystone wall structure -- is the first of its kind to be found in the Scottish lowlands for 100 years. Evidence shows that the Roman dwelling was destroyed by fire and then probably reoccupied by a Pictish warlord... Brochs were the preferred residence of the elite during Roman times. The team said the "exquisitely preserved" Dunning example was built at the top of a hill and offers a 360-degree views of...