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Newsweek reports that a kite-shaped ring with a piece of garnet in its center was uncovered at the site of Burghead Fort, which is located on the coast of northeastern Scotland, by researchers from the University of Aberdeen. Burghead Fort was a seat of power used by the Picts between the sixth and tenth centuries A.D. "There are very few Pictish rings which have ever been discovered and those that we do know about usually come from hoards which were placed in the ground deliberately for safekeeping in some way," said archaeologist Gordon Noble of the University of Aberdeen. "We...

A hillfort in Aberdeenshire is one of the largest ancient settlements ever discovered in Scotland, researchers have said. University of Aberdeen archaeologists say 4,000 people may have lived in more than 800 huts perched high on the Tap O' Noth near Rhynie. Many had thought it dated from the Bronze or Iron Age. The team said carbon dating suggested it was likely to be Pictish, dating back as far as the third century AD. They believe at its height it may have rivalled the largest known post-Roman settlements in Europe. Archaeologists from the university have conducted extensive fieldwork in the...

Researchers led by Gordon Noble of the University of Aberdeen returned to a farmer’s field in northeastern Scotland where a hand pin, chain, and spiral bangle all made of silver in the fourth or fifth centuries A.D. had been found more than 170 years ago. According to a report in Live Science, on the second day of the investigation, the team, which had the assistance of metal detectorists, found three Roman silver coins, a silver strap end, a piece of a silver bracelet, and pieces of hack silver. Over a period of 18 months, they gathered a total of 100...