Posted on 11/01/2007 9:45:26 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Roman writer Tacitus says that 30,000 Caledonians massed to stop the Roman invasion under Agricola in AD 84. The bloody battle of Mons Graupius may have been fought near Inverness. Now a major site of the period has been uncovered in the area -- complete with two huge residences, a cluster of smaller houses, and the biggest industrial complex ever found in Iron Age Scotland... In June 2005 we began excavating a palisaded enclosure at Culduthel Farm on the southern outskirts of Inverness in advance of a housing development... we uncovered part of an astonishingly wellpreserved Iron Age settlement with industrial remains on a scale not previously seen on the Scottish mainland. The settlement was situated on a terrace overlooking present-day Inverness and commanding clear views over the valley at the top of the Great Glen. It would have dominated the landscape, part of the rich coastal plain of the Moray Firth.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.co.uk ...
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You promised no one would find our hideaway...*sulk*
That’s Mons Graupius, not grope-ius. ;’)
Regarding looters, sites discovered from space aren’t likely to be A) found by looters or B) filled with anything of interest to looters. A site this size of this one will have been picked clean of anything of value (other than scholarly value) ages ago, not long before its existence was forgotten by the locals.
This is pretty interesting evidence. The author may be a little bit "out there", but ultimately it's more sound to look at the ideas rather than the person, IMHO, speaking as someone who's a little "out there" himself.
The more detailed map shows Birnie nearby, a site that in recent years produced not only the Roman coins mentioned by the "out there" author, but even more recently produced a high-status items.
The Sueno Stone 10miles to west of Quarrelwood Hill has scenes showing a major battle -- Pictish Stone at Forres just 10 miles toward Caledonian territory to the west which appears to portray a huge battle. The bottom shows three rows of mounted warriors leading archers and foot-soldiers. The bottom panel shows a bridge, or maybe a tent which may represent the Roman camp. Below this are seven decapitated bodies and their executioner. There are three figures who seem to be blowing instruments very much like the Roman trumpet called a tuba. There are cavalry and ranks of soldiers which one central figure, which some suggest is "kilted" but could also represent the Pteruges: decorative feathers that hung from the [waist] of Greek and Roman armour. The stone has been give a dated to 500-1000AD using carbon dating of nearby material, but if it had been moved, it could easily date well before this. Even if it post dates the Roman period, it may have been erected much later to commemorate the battle. And it is the largest so called "Pictish" stone, so this battle must have been very important in the area.
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