Important discoveries made at site of ancient Pictish fort on Moray Firth coast of Scotland

A number of important Pictish artefacts has been discovered in the remains of an ancient fort near Burghead (Scottish Gaelic: Am Broch) on the Moray coast (An Cuan Moireach). The building is thought to have been destroyed by fire in the 10th century during the Vikings invasions. As well as a complex layer of oak planks in a wall, archaeologists have uncovered jewellery and animal bones. Samples of the well preserved wood found at the fort is being sent for carbon dating. This will provide new insights into the period when the fort was built, its construction, as well as its final destruction. 

The team of archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen began their excavation of the site in 2015. In April of this year they returned to the site, led by Dr Gordon Noble, the university's head of archaeology. A number of the finds have been made during excavation of an area where the Picts' discarded their rubbish. However, the finds are helping to provide new information about the fort's inhabitants, including their diet. The Picts were a major force in northern Scotland, but left no written records of their life and believe systems. The type of archaeology being undertaken in Burghaead and other sites is important in uncovering the lives, influence and culture of the Picts.

However, archaeologists at Burghead are trying to find as much as they can at the site as coastal erosion is posing a real threat. They are planning to return next year to rescue as much as they can before it is lost to the sea.