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Scotland's Largest Pictish Fort 'Reconstructed' in New Images

72 points by Thevet 5y ago

dkbrk 5y ago
Those are some impressive ramparts. Looking at them though, I wonder if they also had parapets and some sort of ladders or stairs to reach the top of them from the inside. It wouldn't at all be surprising, I think, for the archaeological evidence of the ramparts to survive much longer than some wooden parapets. It's just... while those ramparts are very impressive, if you're trapped on the inside and can't even get up on top of them, the siegers can build ramps or ladders at their leisure. At the very least you'd want to be able to shoot some arrows or throw some javelins down at them to discourage that sort of thing.
causi 5y ago
The Picts are an often overlooked people. Aside from Senua's Sacrifice, I can't think of a single piece of media dedicated to them.
- irthomasthomas 5y ago
  There was an episode of In Our Time on the Picts. Unusually, this one was recorded in front of a live audience, and featured a Q&A. When the question came up, "what actually happened to them at the end?" The reply was "Nothing. Except writers changed from calling them Picts to calling them Scots." https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvx7b https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvx7b
- lostlogin 5y ago
  You have clearly missed Asterix and the Picts! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/21/asterix-picts-ferri-conrad-review https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/21/asterix-picts-... https://www.asterix.com/en/the-collection/albums/asterix-and-the-picts/ https://www.asterix.com/en/the-collection/albums/asterix-and...
- tempodox 5y ago
  While not exactly dedicated to the Picts, the 2010 movie Centurion [1] at least involves them. It tells the story from a Roman perspective, at a time when Hadrian‘s Wall was about to be abandoned because the Romans couldn‘t take it any longer and gave up in frustration. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020558/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020558/
- INTPenis 5y ago
  Whenever another longer lasting civ writes a lot of negative things about another dead civ I get more interested in the dead civ. Another great example of this is the Phonecians, or Carthage. They likely had trade outposts in Cornwall generations before the Romans over extended themselves.
andygrd 5y ago
This is a fantastic resource, great to see someone reconstructing a hill fort, even virtually, that's north of the border. I'd love to see something about the vitrified forts (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort) the Picts were known to build. These basically hardened glass walls would have been more resistant to attack, but why they over-engineered these walls is a bit of a mystery.
wiz21c 5y ago
Is it me or the sea level has gone done between the time of the Picts and now ? (looking at the picture on the article)
- Engineering-MD 5y ago
  Another thing to bear in mind is the large tide around the UK, which has some of the biggest difference between low and hide tide (https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/627ww6/map_of_global_tidal_ranges_the_difference_between/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/627ww6/map_of_glob...). In the image most of the flat area without grass is tidal.
- midasuni 5y ago
  Scotland’s ground level has risen due to isostatic rebound, upto about 10cm/century over time, but about half that currently. Current sea level rise due to climate change is higher than that, on the order of 20cm/year
  - smcl 5y ago
    Do you mean sea levels are currently rising 20cm per century? I think that’s maybe why you got some downvotes
    - m-i-l 5y ago
      Didn't downvote, but I do know Scotland's land has been rising for quite a long time, and I believe the sea level rising is a relatively recent thing, so it is possible the land has been rising by more than the sea for a while, even if it isn't any longer. Actually, according to https://www.nature.scot/landforms-and-geology/scotlands-rocks-landforms-and-soils/landforms/coasts/present-and-future-sea-levels https://www.nature.scot/landforms-and-geology/scotlands-rock... "[land] uplift rates are now modest – no more than 0.6mm per year. At the same time, coastal waters around the UK are rising at rates of up to 2mm per year."
      - midasuni 5y ago

72 points by Thevet 5y ago

Those are some impressive ramparts. Looking at them though, I wonder if they also had parapets and some sort of ladders or stairs to reach the top of them from the inside. It wouldn't at all be surprising, I think, for the archaeological evidence of the ramparts to survive much longer than some wooden parapets. It's just... while those ramparts are very impressive, if you're trapped on the inside and can't even get up on top of them, the siegers can build ramps or ladders at their leisure. At the very least you'd want to be able to shoot some arrows or throw some javelins down at them to discourage that sort of thing.

causi 5y ago

The Picts are an often overlooked people. Aside from Senua's Sacrifice, I can't think of a single piece of media dedicated to them.

irthomasthomas 5y ago
There was an episode of In Our Time on the Picts. Unusually, this one was recorded in front of a live audience, and featured a Q&A. When the question came up, "what actually happened to them at the end?" The reply was "Nothing. Except writers changed from calling them Picts to calling them Scots." https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvx7b https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09cvx7b
lostlogin 5y ago
You have clearly missed Asterix and the Picts! https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/21/asterix-picts-ferri-conrad-review https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/21/asterix-picts-... https://www.asterix.com/en/the-collection/albums/asterix-and-the-picts/ https://www.asterix.com/en/the-collection/albums/asterix-and...
tempodox 5y ago
While not exactly dedicated to the Picts, the 2010 movie Centurion [1] at least involves them. It tells the story from a Roman perspective, at a time when Hadrian‘s Wall was about to be abandoned because the Romans couldn‘t take it any longer and gave up in frustration. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020558/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020558/
INTPenis 5y ago
Whenever another longer lasting civ writes a lot of negative things about another dead civ I get more interested in the dead civ. Another great example of this is the Phonecians, or Carthage. They likely had trade outposts in Cornwall generations before the Romans over extended themselves.

andygrd 5y ago

This is a fantastic resource, great to see someone reconstructing a hill fort, even virtually, that's north of the border. I'd love to see something about the vitrified forts (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort) the Picts were known to build. These basically hardened glass walls would have been more resistant to attack, but why they over-engineered these walls is a bit of a mystery.

wiz21c 5y ago

Is it me or the sea level has gone done between the time of the Picts and now ? (looking at the picture on the article)

Engineering-MD 5y ago
Another thing to bear in mind is the large tide around the UK, which has some of the biggest difference between low and hide tide (https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/627ww6/map_of_global_tidal_ranges_the_difference_between/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/627ww6/map_of_glob...). In the image most of the flat area without grass is tidal.
midasuni 5y ago
Scotland’s ground level has risen due to isostatic rebound, upto about 10cm/century over time, but about half that currently. Current sea level rise due to climate change is higher than that, on the order of 20cm/year
- smcl 5y ago
  Do you mean sea levels are currently rising 20cm per century? I think that’s maybe why you got some downvotes
  - m-i-l 5y ago
    Didn't downvote, but I do know Scotland's land has been rising for quite a long time, and I believe the sea level rising is a relatively recent thing, so it is possible the land has been rising by more than the sea for a while, even if it isn't any longer. Actually, according to https://www.nature.scot/landforms-and-geology/scotlands-rocks-landforms-and-soils/landforms/coasts/present-and-future-sea-levels https://www.nature.scot/landforms-and-geology/scotlands-rock... "[land] uplift rates are now modest – no more than 0.6mm per year. At the same time, coastal waters around the UK are rising at rates of up to 2mm per year."
    - midasuni 5y ago