Andrew Collins on Gobekli Tepe sister site

[Tiompan]

And yet another post full of abuse and no actual content .
If you can't understand it , then I am not surprised, given your logic .
If someone convicts themsleves with their own words , why can't you quote the words and prove how they might be convicting themselves ?
Odd , how by using quotes I have shown you to be wrong but you never manage to do the same . But you can certainly pretend to do so .
High rage , your wild imagination lets you down , yet again , just as your professed "experience and knowledge " did in the central issue .

The "we" are those who have to read your bile and lack of content . On the other hand the use of your "we" when enquired about was conveniently ignored , as ever .
e.g. "Who is "we" that were all wrong . I only said that the comment (which turned out to be your mangled effort ) was wrong ,another lie . "
Note , that was a quote showing where you got it wrong ,again .

In case you have forgotten here is the central issue ,the bit you got wrong and couldn't admit to , and tried to cover up , and are still attempting to do, with bluster .
Note, the following are not fantasy quotes .
" the first example we have of the Cross being used as a major symbol" is not only wrong but it was supposed to represent what Dr Moorehead had said in
"the crosses (probably of chinese silk ie majorly expensive) depicted on the Lullingstone frieze represent the largest and most public use of the symol (christian) so far found in the former empire. "
Caught red handed . Case closed .

[E.P. Grondine]

To return to the subject from wrestling with the resident caveman - Hinton St Mary - amazing to relate has never been formally excavated, much of it remains undiscovered.

The mosaic is obviously considered one of the best survivals from RB. Interestingly the Christ rondel is included with an image of Bellepheron and the Chimera. Again showing the strange combination of paganism and christianity.

At Lullingstone this is even more stark with a pagan chapel built under the Christian one and accessible via a trapdoor. Did one flit from one service to another?

Well simon, probably the best way to leave it is by noting that the first British christians were Pelagian heretics.
And of course the relation of the Picts to PIE is still of interest.

As near as I can make out, most of the local scholars in SW Scotland died in the trenches in WWI.
Which has left the StrathClyde-North available for current research.

But of course, digging Bazas is more to the point of my current research. and far more significant to the lives of the people living today.

BTW, falling back on averages is a convenient way of getting around the extra-ordinary size of the remains often found in central burials.
I suggest moving on to Dragoo's book, which is where I started.

[Simon21]

And yet another post full of abuse and no actual content .
If you can't understand it , then I am not surprised, given your logic .
If someone convicts themsleves with their own words , why can't you quote the words and prove how they might be convicting themselves ?
Odd , how by using quotes I have shown you to be wrong but you never manage to do the same . But you can certainly pretend to do so .
High rage , your wild imagination lets you down , yet again , just as your professed "experience and knowledge " did in the central issue .

The "we" are those who have to read your bile and lack of content . On the other hand the use of your "we" when enquired about was conveniently ignored , as ever .
e.g. "Who is "we" that were all wrong . I only said that the comment (which turned out to be your mangled effort ) was wrong ,another lie . "
Note , that was a quote showing where you got it wrong ,again .

In case you have forgotten here is the central issue ,the bit you got wrong and couldn't admit to , and tried to cover up , and are still attempting to do, with bluster .
Note, the following are not fantasy quotes .
" the first example we have of the Cross being used as a major symbol" is not only wrong but it was supposed to represent what Dr Moorehead had said in
"the crosses (probably of chinese silk ie majorly expensive) depicted on the Lullingstone frieze represent the largest and most public use of the symol (christian) so far found in the former empire. "
Caught red handed . Case closed .

You see my point?

You are just obsessed with proving yourself right in your eyes. Look and read your posts - absolutely obsessed with a sense of grievance. Every word practically drenched with bitterness and anger.

You admit to lying and abuse then fume when you are reminded of this - as a true obsessive - look at the amount of repetition. You are not the centre of the Universe.

You admitted you lied you admitted you are abusive. Your own admissions, not mine - true in both cases admittedly.

You speak for on one but yourself. Do you get that Donald? No one but yourself.

Had you not started lying then I could have helped you by pointing out where you were confused - though to be frank I still have trouble accepting you get confused over a conventional reference to the Cross.

No one will deny I have tried to help you but your condition gets in the way, I even sent you a helpfull link. And this is the reply I receive. foaming at the mouth repeating incoherent words like a parrot with Alzeheimers.

But do take warning old son, I am on to you and your dishonestyand will point it out when you tell porkies again and claim to have visited the moon or the Marianas Trench.

Oh and Dr Moorehouse (not a dr of music history as you seemed to think appropriate) used a a light pen and slides, as lecturers do. The extra words (not the chinese silks, but this is not particularly relevant) were added for your benefit since you seemed too thick to get the fairly obvious reference.

[Tiompan]

And of course the relation of the Picts to PIE is still of interest.

Not to too many these days , that went the way of the Scythian connection .

[Tiompan]

You are pretty disturbed .

You ignore entirely anything that is said , you make up fantasy stuff and never back it up .

Quite simply , if I admitted that I lied ,where and when did that take place ? , do tell .
The fact that you won't be able to do so shows that it is actually you that is lying , can't you see that ?

The fact that you were shown to be wrong and a liar to boot , for the second time too , has tipped you over the edge from fantasy into something much darker .

I pointed out where you got it wrong ,using evidence .

Anytime you see me making a mistake do point it out , but with evidence not fantasy stuff .
Same for lies , feel free to to do so , but don''t lie yourself , you will only get found out .
Do you need reminding ?

[Simon21]

To return to the subject from wrestling with the resident caveman - Hinton St Mary - amazing to relate has never been formally excavated, much of it remains undiscovered.

The mosaic is obviously considered one of the best survivals from RB. Interestingly the Christ rondel is included with an image of Bellepheron and the Chimera. Again showing the strange combination of paganism and christianity.

At Lullingstone this is even more stark with a pagan chapel built under the Christian one and accessible via a trapdoor. Did one flit from one service to another?

Well simon, probably the best way to leave it is by noting that the first British christians were Pelagian heretics.
And of course the relation of the Picts to PIE is still of interest.

As near as I can make out, most of the local scholars in SW Scotland died in the trenches in WWI.
Which has left the StrathClyde-North available for current research.

But of course, digging Bazas is more to the point of my current research. and far more significant to the lives of the people living today.

BTW, falling back on averages is a convenient way of getting around the extra-ordinary size of the remains often found in central burials.
I suggest moving on to Dragoo's book, which is where I started.

No that is going too far. There is no evidence that St Patrick was a Pelagian, his converts certainly weren't. Interestingly the chronicler of St Germanus makes no reference at all to pagan British so where did these christians go since St Augustine came to convert everyone back to Christ. Gildas mentions mass destruction becasue the British turned from God, but he doesn't say they were pagans. This might be a reference to Pelagianism. It would of course help if we had the vaguest clue where Patrick and Gildas were from.

Were they there, but simply lying low? Ken Dark claims there are a couple of Vatican Manuscripts which were probably mde in western Britain - but no one has followed uo that idea

[Simon21]

You are pretty disturbed .

You ignore entirely anything that is said , you make up fantasy stuff and never back it up .

Quite simply , if I admitted that I lied ,where and when did that take place ? , do tell .
The fact that you won't be able to do so shows that it is actually you that is lying , can't you see that ?

The fact that you were shown to be wrong and a liar to boot , for the second time too , has tipped you over the edge from fantasy into something much darker .

I pointed out where you got it wrong ,using evidence .

Anytime you see me making a mistake do point it out , but with evidence not fantasy stuff .
Same for lies , feel free to to do so , but don''t lie yourself , you will only get found out .
Do you need reminding ?

Anytime you see me making a mistake do point it out , but with evidence not fantasy stuff .
Same for lies , feel free to to do so , but don''t lie yourself , you will only get found out .
Do you need reminding ?

Do you actually think this makes any sense? I mean seriously.

You are pretty disturbed . Oh dear tiompy is upset. Well I may well be disturbed ( liars tend to have the effect on me) but at least I can write a coherent sentence, I am not swollen with bitterness and anger and i dont spit in someone's proverbial face when they try to offer help.

Anytime you see me making a mistake do point it out I thought you and God didn't make any mistakes ever, in your own eyes.

I don't openly admit to lying and being abusive then cry when I am caught out. And I can follow a point without piling in non-sequiturs such as music historians and paleolithic axes (in what has to rank as one of the most stupid and infantile remarks made on this board only beaten by your further comment that the Chi Rho was not a cross - true sad sack and a triangle is not a square).

Oh and I do not refer to myself in the plural as you do. I leave that to the Queen. One presumes you are not claiming to be Her Majesty.

Compared to you I and most people on the planet are beacons of sanity.

But as I say I am on to you Matey Bob

[Tiompan]

Yes I can understand that it doesn't make any sense to you .

Most people recognise the nuts and just stop interacting with them , I tend not to , expecting that reasonable logical argument , involving evidence will win out over nonsense .
Eventually it clicks ,I should behave like those who just ignore them .

You were shown to be wrong in the central issue , you got the info garbled and couldn't own up to it . You refuse to believe that which might upset your world view of others that you know nothing about ,which is basically the same as the other pathological problem about making stuff up .
You never support your claims with evidence and merely repeat them even when it is shown that you were wrong . That is one one of the classic signs .

All you have is abuse ,which probably stems from you being caught out doing exactly the same thing years ago i.e. getting it wrong, calling me a liar , not providing the evidence , then giving yourself away as the liar yourself . This caused you to leave with your tail between your legs and has probably had you seething ever since . It was only when the abuse started that I recognised the style . I'll not bother to read anymore of your evidence and meaningful content free posts on this thread .
The job was done long ago and there is nothing you could possibly say that will change the fact that you got it wrong .

[Simon21]

Yes I can understand that it doesn't make any sense to you .

Most people recognise the nuts and just stop interacting with them , I tend not to , expecting that reasonable logical argument , involving evidence will win out over nonsense .
Eventually it clicks ,I should behave like those who just ignore them .

You were shown to be wrong in the central issue , you got the info garbled and couldn't own up to it . You refuse to believe that which might upset your world view of others that you know nothing about ,which is basically the same as the other pathological problem about making stuff up .
You never support your claims with evidence and merely repeat them even when it is shown that you were wrong . That is one one of the classic signs .

All you have is abuse ,which probably stems from you being caught out doing exactly the same thing years ago i.e. getting it wrong, calling me a liar , not providing the evidence , then giving yourself away as the liar yourself . This caused you to leave with your tail between your legs and has probably had you seething ever since . It was only when the abuse started that I recognised the style . I'll not bother to read anymore of your evidence and meaningful content free posts on this thread .
The job was done long ago and there is nothing you could possibly say that will change the fact that you got it wrong .

Most people recognise the nuts and just stop interacting with them , I tend not to , expecting that reasonable logical argument , involving evidence will win out over nonsense Eventually it clicks ,I should behave like those who just ignore them.

Your idea of "reasonable argument" is to use abuse - as you have admitted. But I agree with your comment about nutters, liars too - always hope they will aqpologise when they are a caught out like you have been, with your own words.

YOU expect deference and immediate agreement with your views . You have refered to yourself as "we". is more evidence about your state of mind required? Your own words again.

You were shown to be wrong in the central issue , you got the info garbled and couldn't own up to it . You refuse to believe that which might upset your world view of others that you know nothing about ,which is basically the same as the other pathological problem about making stuff up

Anyone like to have a try at this? Not even English? World view of others what "others", what "world view" that you know nothing about
so er how can I have a "world view" of them then? Tiompy contradicts himself in his own sentence - Idiot or what?

This caused you to leave with your tail between your legs No I actually had to help with a patient and I had proved you to be lying so nothinig you said further was worth commenting on. You are not actually the centre of the Universe.

If you can be honest you will admit I caught you out because you knew nothing about a major exhibition despite having claimed to attend it I am not sure you have in fact ever been to the BM as mentioned earlier. Let me recall - you were a member of the TCLF in those days weren't you - Tiompy's Celtic Liberation Front. God I wouldn't have brought that up. It was GSM to me hands down. Not hard since I had been and you had not. It was a grotesque and stupid lie. Mind you you have not claimed (yet) to have been at Dr Moorehead's presentation - so fair dues - maybe you will later on.

My evidence for your lying and abuse are your own words. You. Tiompy, lying, no one else, you. You even admit them. No argument, read your posts (if you can bear it). In the case of the exhibition you wriggled like a prawn on a griddle tryihg to provide "evidence" to back your lies. You are to blame for your own situtation - no one else, no "we", you.

As an amusing aside, some suspects do this - "Yeah I am guilty but you can't prove it, " "You have just admitted it." *Yeah but you still can't prove I did it, where's your evidence?" "Er your own admission" "oh b*****"s".

Practically every posting you do is aggressive and hostile to anyone, just read them, note the tone - where does this hideous anger come from? A deep hatred of yourself? Childhood trauma, or causing trauma in others - I am I freely admit no psychologist.

there is nothing you could possibly say that will change the fact that you got it wrong So why do you continue to engage, is it the same reason you continue to tell silly lies?

I'll not bother to read anymore of your evidence and meaningful content free posts on this thread . How upsetting, sob . I gave up reading most of your repetitive drivel when I realised I was dealing with an abusive obsessive nutter who had no interest in archaeology and was gradually dissolving into incoherence. When you started ranting about the Chi rho for no consistent reason it was a big signal.

You use the word evidence like some sacred incantion only known to Tiompy. Trouble is presenting evidence to a liar and obsessive is a worthless exercise.

I reached out the hand of friendship and conciliation and it was spat on. I am afraid you need to talk to someone about your bitterness. I sincerely hope (and you may take this as you please it is kindly meant) this is not a substance abuse or family trauma issue. I understand people in the US are dying from drug abuse at an alarming and frightening rate.

[E.P. Grondine]

Hi Simon -

Any other inscriptions yet from this site?

"A nondescript patch of land 15 miles north of Dublin has shattered
one of Ireland's strongest myths. It indicates that the country was,
after all, invaded by Romans.

For centuries the Irish believed it never happened. While Britain
bent to the Roman yoke, the Irish were held to have lived in an
heroic Celtic twilight on the fringes of the Empire. There were no
references in classical literature to a Roman presence in Ireland and
any artifacts found were said to be imported.

Now archeologists have revealed one of the most exciting Roman
discoveries of the century. From beneath the soil at Drumanagh, clear
evidence of a Roman coastal fort of up to 40 acres.

The fort has been identified as a significant Roman beachhead, built
to support military campaigns in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It was
heavily defended and is believed to have developed into a big trading
town. Coins found at the site are stamped with the names of the
emperors Titus, Trajan and Hadrian, suggesting that Roman involvement
in Ireland lasted at least from AD79 to AD138. The location has been
known to a small group of archeologists and the National Museum of
Ireland for more than a decade but they kept it secret. Legal
difficulties surround the site, yet to be bought by the Irish
government from its private owner. Items including jewellry and
valuable ornaments are held at the museum in Dublin but have not
been put on private display.

Experts on the Roman period hailed the find this weekend. Barry
Cunliffe...described it as staggering."It is one of the most
important Roman sites in Europe and fits exactly with what Rome was
doing all along the frontiers of its Empire." Drumanagh is absolutely
crucial as it may explain the scatter of Roman material which has
been turned up in Ireland.

Barry Raftery,.. [UCD]..., said it was the most important find in
Ireland. He believes hundreds of people populated the fort in houses
densely packed into the enclosure.

Richard Warner [Ulster Museum] said excavation of the Drumanagh
sitie would be the most significant for any period in Irish history.

Experts link the discovery to smaller finds which indicate that a
large area of Ireland's east coast was under heavy Roman influence.
For Warner and other archeologists a full excavation of the Drmanagh
site will provide the answers to a mystery that has endured for
nearly 2000 years."

"The site reminds me very much of one I worked on as an undergraduate
during my summer vacation in 1987, near Nairn in Scotland. If people
are interested I'll keep you posted.

Gervase Phillips.
Manchester Metropolitan University."

[E.P. Grondine]

Here's another one -

Dig near Dumfries unearths Roman Army artefacts
Posted by TANN ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Europe, UK, Western Europe 6:00 PM

Archaeological investigations near Dumfries have unearthed artefacts relating to the Roman Army's occupation of southern Scotland.

A javelin head was among the items discovered
[Credit: Guard Archaeology]
The discoveries include an iron javelin head, the remains of a Roman boot, samian pottery and tile fragments.

They were found at Wellington Bridge near Kirkton during Scottish Water works to lay a new mains in the area.

Simon Brassey, of its environmental engineering team, said the items dated back more than 1,850 years.
"It is fascinating for everyone involved to make this kind of discovery when working on a project such as the laying of new pipes," he added.

Warren Bailie, of GUARD Archaeology which carried out the excavation, said the artefacts added to evidence found in 1939 during an earlier dig.

It first revealed that Carzield Roman fort had been built in the area during the Roman campaign of the second century AD.
"The new artefacts provide additional insight into the Roman Army's occupation of southern Scotland," he said.

"For just as modern day military bases often have a huge range of imported resources and supplies - including shops and fast food outlets - Roman forts in southern Scotland during the second century AD were not so very different."

Tiles are thought to show some kind of heating system or bath existed at the
Roman fort site [Credit: Guard Archaeology]
One of the most striking artefacts was an iron javelin head with part of its wooden shaft still evident.

While badly corroded and broken - perhaps due to having seen action - it is believed to be hard evidence for the military character of the Roman occupation.

Mr Baillie added that the finds showed the "long supply chain" that enabled Roman troops to garrison some of the "northernmost reaches of the Roman Empire" at the time.

"Shards of samian pottery from Roman Gaul, recovered by our team, show that at least some of the soldiers, perhaps the garrison's officers, had fine tableware at their disposal," he said.

He said tile fragments also showed that a bath house or some kind of central heating system had operated on the site.

Evidence of wheat was also recovered which Mr Baillie said indicated that food supplies for the Roman garrison were not being requisitioned from the local populace but were supplied from the Roman provinces to the south.

"In fact, one of the Roman forts a few miles to the east of Carzield, at Birrens near Middlebie, was called Blatobulgium by the Romans, meaning the 'flour sack', and held three granaries which indicate it was probably used as a supply depot for other Roman forts in the region," he added.

The full results of the archaeological discoveries has just been published in the Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society.

[Simon21]

Hi Simon -

Any other inscriptions yet from this site?

"A nondescript patch of land 15 miles north of Dublin has shattered
one of Ireland's strongest myths. It indicates that the country was,
after all, invaded by Romans.

For centuries the Irish believed it never happened. While Britain
bent to the Roman yoke, the Irish were held to have lived in an
heroic Celtic twilight on the fringes of the Empire. There were no
references in classical literature to a Roman presence in Ireland and
any artifacts found were said to be imported.

Now archeologists have revealed one of the most exciting Roman
discoveries of the century. From beneath the soil at Drumanagh, clear
evidence of a Roman coastal fort of up to 40 acres.

The fort has been identified as a significant Roman beachhead, built
to support military campaigns in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It was
heavily defended and is believed to have developed into a big trading
town. Coins found at the site are stamped with the names of the
emperors Titus, Trajan and Hadrian, suggesting that Roman involvement
in Ireland lasted at least from AD79 to AD138. The location has been
known to a small group of archeologists and the National Museum of
Ireland for more than a decade but they kept it secret. Legal
difficulties surround the site, yet to be bought by the Irish
government from its private owner. Items including jewellry and
valuable ornaments are held at the museum in Dublin but have not
been put on private display.

Experts on the Roman period hailed the find this weekend. Barry
Cunliffe...described it as staggering."It is one of the most
important Roman sites in Europe and fits exactly with what Rome was
doing all along the frontiers of its Empire." Drumanagh is absolutely
crucial as it may explain the scatter of Roman material which has
been turned up in Ireland.

Barry Raftery,.. [UCD]..., said it was the most important find in
Ireland. He believes hundreds of people populated the fort in houses
densely packed into the enclosure.

Richard Warner [Ulster Museum] said excavation of the Drumanagh
sitie would be the most significant for any period in Irish history.

Experts link the discovery to smaller finds which indicate that a
large area of Ireland's east coast was under heavy Roman influence.
For Warner and other archeologists a full excavation of the Drmanagh
site will provide the answers to a mystery that has endured for
nearly 2000 years."

"The site reminds me very much of one I worked on as an undergraduate
during my summer vacation in 1987, near Nairn in Scotland. If people
are interested I'll keep you posted.

Gervase Phillips.
Manchester Metropolitan University."

I agree stunning stuff, but off course one fort does not an occupation make. ST Jerome of course called Pelagius "a scot full of porridge" and the Scots lived in Ireland. But we will have to await further info. You know Ogham is derived directly from Latin, so someone was teaching the Irish.

[Simon21]

Here's another one -

Dig near Dumfries unearths Roman Army artefacts
Posted by TANN ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Breakingnews, Europe, UK, Western Europe 6:00 PM

Archaeological investigations near Dumfries have unearthed artefacts relating to the Roman Army's occupation of southern Scotland.

A javelin head was among the items discovered
[Credit: Guard Archaeology]
The discoveries include an iron javelin head, the remains of a Roman boot, samian pottery and tile fragments.

They were found at Wellington Bridge near Kirkton during Scottish Water works to lay a new mains in the area.

Simon Brassey, of its environmental engineering team, said the items dated back more than 1,850 years.
"It is fascinating for everyone involved to make this kind of discovery when working on a project such as the laying of new pipes," he added.

Warren Bailie, of GUARD Archaeology which carried out the excavation, said the artefacts added to evidence found in 1939 during an earlier dig.

It first revealed that Carzield Roman fort had been built in the area during the Roman campaign of the second century AD.
"The new artefacts provide additional insight into the Roman Army's occupation of southern Scotland," he said.

"For just as modern day military bases often have a huge range of imported resources and supplies - including shops and fast food outlets - Roman forts in southern Scotland during the second century AD were not so very different."

Tiles are thought to show some kind of heating system or bath existed at the
Roman fort site [Credit: Guard Archaeology]
One of the most striking artefacts was an iron javelin head with part of its wooden shaft still evident.

While badly corroded and broken - perhaps due to having seen action - it is believed to be hard evidence for the military character of the Roman occupation.

Mr Baillie added that the finds showed the "long supply chain" that enabled Roman troops to garrison some of the "northernmost reaches of the Roman Empire" at the time.

"Shards of samian pottery from Roman Gaul, recovered by our team, show that at least some of the soldiers, perhaps the garrison's officers, had fine tableware at their disposal," he said.

He said tile fragments also showed that a bath house or some kind of central heating system had operated on the site.

Evidence of wheat was also recovered which Mr Baillie said indicated that food supplies for the Roman garrison were not being requisitioned from the local populace but were supplied from the Roman provinces to the south.

"In fact, one of the Roman forts a few miles to the east of Carzield, at Birrens near Middlebie, was called Blatobulgium by the Romans, meaning the 'flour sack', and held three granaries which indicate it was probably used as a supply depot for other Roman forts in the region," he added.

The full results of the archaeological discoveries has just been published in the Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society.

Fascinating. Dumfries of course means "fort of the frisians" and frisian is the nearest European language to English. It is further evidence that the Roamn occupation of Britain was perhaps more thorough and sustained than has recently been believed. The idea of valuable Samian ware ending up in this obscure region is fascinating in itself. Scotland is turning out more and more Roman material. This may have significance egarding the conversion from Ireland. what if there was already a romano christian community in Southern Scotland? It is claimed that Patrick came from around Carisle and he proudly declared he was the grandson of a priest (this is before celibacy - a largely Irish notion) and son of a Decurion - imnplying a civil community.

But we have this highly embarrasing commentary:

http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/was- ... to-ireland

Can't see the Cardinals appreciating this next St Patrick's day.

[E.P. Grondine]

Archaeological research at a site in Galloway has suggested it may have been at the heart of a "lost kingdom" from the Dark Ages.

Ronan Toolis led the excavation works at Trusty's Hill Fort at Gatehouse of Fleet.

It unearthed evidence that it might have been the royal seat of the sixth century kingdom of Rheged.

Mr Toolis said it was "pre-eminent among the kingdoms of the north" at that time.

The location of Rheged had previously been thought by many historians to be in Cumbria.

However, Dr Christopher Bowles, co-director of the excavation work in Dumfries and Galloway, said that may not have been the case.
Archaeologists believe the royal seat of Rheged may have been in Galloway

"The new archaeological evidence from Trusty's Hill enhances our perception of power, politics, economy and culture at a time when the foundations for the kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Wales were being laid," he said.

"The 2012 excavations show that Trusty's Hill was likely the royal seat of Rheged, a kingdom that had Galloway as its heartland.

"This was a place of religious, cultural and political innovation whose contribution to culture in Scotland has perhaps not been given due recognition."

Dr Bowles said the influence of the kingdom had "rippled through the history and literature of Scotland and beyond".

Mr Toolis added that they had not been looking for Rheged when they started the excavations.
The excavation found evidence the area had been a royal stronghold

"What drew us to Trusty's Hill were Pictish symbols carved on to bedrock here, which are unique in this region and far to the south of where Pictish carvings are normally found," said Mr Toolis.

"The Galloway Picts Project was launched in 2012 to recover evidence for the archaeological context of these carvings.

"But far from validating the existence of Galloway Picts, the archaeological context revealed by our excavation instead indicates the carvings relate to a royal stronghold and place of inauguration for the local Britons of Galloway around AD 600.

"The new archaeological evidence suggests that Galloway may have been the heart of the lost Dark Age kingdom of Rheged,
a kingdom that was in the late sixth century pre-eminent amongst the kingdoms of the north."

The two men have produced a new book which details their findings.

[E.P. Grondine]

Archaeological research has just been published which reveals new evidence for vitrified hillforts and warfare in early medieval Scotland. The excavation of Trusty’s Hill, which lies in Galloway in south-west Scotland, revealed that in the early seventh century AD this hillfort was deliberately destroyed and subjected to such sustained burning that the timber-laced stone rampart circling its summit was vitrified.

Nucleated Fort layout of Trusty’s Hill.

‘Our excavation of Trusty’s Hill revealed all the hallmarks of an early medieval royal site,’ said Ronan Toolis of GUARD Archaeology, who led the 2012 excavation. ‘The layout of this hillfort, comprising a fortified summit with supplementary defences and enclosures along its lower-lying slopes, is recognisable as a nucleated fort, a type of fort that has been recognised in Scotland as a form of high status secular settlement of the early medieval period. E-ware pottery indicates that the household here were part of a trade network that linked western Britain with Ireland and Continental Europe. The household were also patrons of a workshop within a part of the site here that was producing high status metalwork of gold, silver, bronze and iron. And the summit was approached via a ritualised entranceway defined by Pictish carvings on one side and a large rock-cut basin on the other. The material culture and layout of Trusty’s Hill is so closely similar to other early medieval royal sites in Scotland that there is little doubt now that Trusty’s Hill was once a royal stronghold of the Britons of south-west Scotland. The vitrification of the ramparts coincides with the destruction of the interior of the site and the end of the occupation of this hillfort.’



IMPORTANT - The distribution of E ware pottery imports from France, including that found at Trusty’s Hill (size of symbol proportional to number of vessels) demonstrate that Gaulish merchants were making a beeline for the Galloway coast during the sixth and early seventh centuries AD.

[Yep - straight from BAZAS. Let's see 2018-2003 = a mere 15 years]

Experiments have shown that vitrification – the melting and fusing together – of stone ramparts took substantial man-power, timber resources for added fuel, experience, skill, and a great deal of time to accomplish. The evidence from empirical experiments and from a range of archaeological sites demonstrates that this was a destructive not a creative process, and deliberate not accidental. Often it was incomplete and coincided with the abandonment of a site, but crucially it always coincides with the burning of a timber-laced rampart core. The act of vitrification depended on pulling down the stone facing of a rampart to expose the core, continually piling a considerable amount of timber and brushwood against individual timbers of the internal framework, and setting fire to these with a favourable wind. Assuming the burning of ramparts was symbolically hostile destruction, the implication is that a fort had to be overrun by an invading force to allow sufficient access and time to achieve a fully vitrified rampart. Indeed, the high visibility of this act may have been more important than the actual destruction of the ramparts themselves. It has been observed during modern experimentation that the sight of a timber-laced rampart in the process of vitrification ‘edged by flames and glowing red in the night’ for weeks or even months was a spectacular advertisement of aggressive power.

The evidence from Trusty’s Hill consistently upholds these previous observations. The excavation revealed that the unheated outer and inner stone faces of the summit rampart were toppled separately prior to the burning of the rubble core. The likeliest explanation is that these were intentionally pulled down in order to expose the rampart core and its timber sub-structure for ease of access and to allow oxygen to fan the flames. Moreover, the entire circuit of the summit rampart was vitrified. The rampart core was not reduced to a single fused mass however but rather discontinuous concentrations of vitrified stone indicating individual fires around timber uprights. Given the substantial number of timbers within the rampart core, it is likely that each upright may have required individual attention in order to fully destroy the fortification. Where the rampart core was exposed, the position of the upright timbers was marked by post-voids ringed by a concentration of vitrified stone, which mirrors the negative timber slots encountered in other vitrified forts in Scotland and providing evidence for in situ burning rather than the incorporation of vitrified material from elsewhere.

Anglo-saxon style bronze jewellery from Trusty’s Hill. Analysis showed that this was originally gilded and silvered and made of leaded brass quite distinct to the leaded bronze objects being made at the workshop here. It was probably brought to this site as loot.

It was also evident that dark soil deposits, that abutted the interior edge of the rampart and which contained an abundance of occupation material, sealed the collapsed unburnt stone interior face of the rampart but were themselves sealed by the collapsed vitrified rubble core of the rampart. Stratigraphically this must represent the accumulation of occupation detritus during the destruction of the summit and its enclosing ramparts. This is borne out by the soil micromorphology analysis that indicated the dark soil resulted from a wet, actively churned, trampled and lightly vegetated occupation deposit. The occurrence of similarly composed dark soil deposits on each side of the summit indicates a prolonged phase of destruction across the entire site.


Reconstruction of the royal stronghold atop Trusty’s Hill as it may have appeared c. AD 600. © DGNHAS / GUARD Archaeology Ltd.
The evidence from Trusty’s Hill points to a sustained and co-ordinated effort to eradicate the fort. While it is beyond reasonable dispute that vitrified ramparts are the result of deliberate arson, there is some debate about whether this deliberate destruction simply marks the self-inflicted ritualised abandonment of a site. However, there are repeated references to the besieging and destruction of forts by fire in Scotland in a variety of annals from the seventh century AD onwards. The consensus is that vitrified ramparts are the result of punitive destruction after the capture and pillaging of a hillfort, in order to permanently raze it in a spectacular exhibition of power. This process of violent destruction serves to underline the defensive character of the ramparts enclosing Trusty’s Hill and which, together with the numerous slingstones recovered from the site, testifies that there was a tangible threat to defend against.

It is doubtful, however, that the destruction of Trusty’s Hill was merely the consequence of a local neighbourly dispute. The magnitude of resources required to achieve such destruction is such that vitrified ramparts are one of the most compelling forms of evidence for warfare during this period in Scotland. The level of co-ordinated and prolonged destruction to raze Trusty’s Hill intrinsically reflects the status that the fort and its household once held. It was clearly important to devote substantial and valuable resources to its destruction in order to present a fiery spectacle that lasted days if not weeks and was visible for miles around. This was not just destruction but a menacing political statement.



Redrawing the map of Dark Age Britain. The discovery of a royal stronghold at Trusty’s Hill suggests that the core of the kingdom of Rheged lay within Galloway.

For it is possible that the destruction of Trusty’s Hill was not an isolated affair. The destruction of Trusty’s Hill in the early seventh century AD is comparatively close chronologically to the destruction of the Mote of Mark, another vitrified fort further along the Galloway coast, where occupation was also abruptly curtailed. Given their morphological similarity to Trusty’s Hill, it is entirely plausible that the remaining cluster of vitrified forts in central Galloway were also destroyed around this same period. This raises the distinct possibility that their destruction resulted from a prolonged campaign or series of campaigns of violent subjugation of the region rather than entirely unrelated incidents.

While Pictish raiders have been previously suggested as responsible for the destruction of Trusty’s Hill, as well as for the Pictish symbols at the site, the identification of local Britons as the principal hand behind the carvings similarly removes any particular focus on the Picts having any compelling relationship to the site’s demise. There is plenty of evidence for other likely parties. Aggression by various groups in northern Britain is certainly attested during this period. However, it was over the course of the seventh century AD that the kings of Northumbria conquered and made tributary the British kingdoms of the north, including Galloway. Interestingly, all of the vitrified forts in central Galloway lie within or very close to parishes where clusters of early Anglian settlement can be discerned from place-name evidence indicating not only a political, but also an attempted cultural purge around the middle of the seventh century AD.

While there is some evidence that the Northumbrian possession of Galloway was at least in part a relatively peaceable affair, such as the Northumbrian appropriation of the early Christian monastic sites at Whithorn and Ardwall Isle, the vitrified ramparts of Trusty’s Hill and the Mote of Mark corroborate the testimonies of the Historia Ecclesiastica and the Life of Wilfrid in demonstrating that the dominance of Northumbria was also achieved in no small measure through the violent overthrow and subjugation of the native British ruling elite. It is worth noting that one Anglian noble, perhaps King Ida of Bernicia, was known to his British enemies as Fflamddwyn, meaning ‘the Flame-Bearer’.

The deliberate and spectacular destruction of Trusty’s Hill is a visceral reminder that its demise came with sword and flame.

The Lost Dark Age Kingdom of Rheged: the Discovery of a Royal Stronghold at Trusty’s Hill, Galloway by Ronan Toolis and Christopher Bowles is published by Oxbow Books.

The Galloway Picts Project was supported by the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, GUARD Archaeology Ltd, the Mouswald Trust, the Hunter Archaeological & Historical Trust, the Strathmartine Trust, the Gatehouse Development Initiative, the John Younger Trust, the Galloway Preservation Society and Historic Environment Scotland.