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A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland has identified the likely burials of up to 65 British Kings and senior royals... Prior to the study, only one post-Roman burial of an indigenous British monarch from the Dark Ages has been identified (although nine Anglo-Saxon royal graves have been found on previous excavations).Archaeologists now suggest that 20 probable royal burial complexes each containing up to five graves (with a further 11 burial complexes under consideration) have been identified that appear to date from the fifth and sixth centuries AD.During this period, the east...

A seventh-century slate window ledge inscribed with an intriguing mix of Latin, Greek and Celtic words, names and symbols has been unearthed at Tintagel Castle in north Cornwall. The discovery adds weight to the view that the rugged coastal site, which is most often associated with the legend of King Arthur, was home in the early middle ages to a sophisticated and multicultural port community. Put together with other finds including Iberian goblets and bowls from what is now Turkey, the slate ledge suggests Tintagel may well have been an important royal base with trade links stretching from Europe’s Atlantic...

Author Adam Ardrey claims that instead of the romantic English king of legend who lived at Camelot – which is often said to be Tintagel in Cornwall or in Wales – Arthur was actually Arthur Mac Aedan, the sixth-century son of an ancient King of Scotland, whose Camelot was a marsh in Argyll. He also suggests that Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur from a stone at Dunadd near Kilmartin, died near Falkirk and was buried on the Hebridean island of Iona, which he declares to be Avalon. Ardrey, an amateur historian who works as an advocate in Edinburgh and previously...

A small piece of slate was discovered during excavations on Tintagel Island inscribed with the name "Artognov". Is this the first real proof of King Arthur's existence? Was he really born at Tintagel as legend insists? On 6th August 1998, English Heritage revealed that during the last week of digging on the Eastern terraces of Tintagel Island, a broken piece of Cornish slate (8" by 14") was discovered bearing the name "Artognov". It was excavated on July 4th, by Kevin Brady, an archaeologist working with a team from Glasgow University. "As the stone came out, when I saw the letters...