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Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic, Edmonds, Bender

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Craig Phadraig - Vitrified Fort in Scotland in Highlands

Submitted by absynthia01 on Tuesday, 09 July 2002  Page Views: 17050

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Craig Phadraig Alternative Name: Craig Phadrig
Country: Scotland County: Highlands Type: Vitrified Fort
Nearest Town: Inverness  Nearest Village: in Inverness
Map Ref: NH640452  Landranger Map Number: 26
Latitude: 57.476590N  Longitude: 4.269666W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Craig Phadraig
Craig Phadraig submitted by absynthia01 : This is Craig Phadrig Fort (Vote or comment on this photo)
Vitrified Fort in Highland

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Craig Phadraig
Craig Phadraig submitted by LenGilbert : Vitrified hill fort on Craig Phadrig, aka King Brude's fort, this time from the south or far end. You can see most of the oval where the remains of the wall are. The centre area is fairly deep if you venture through the tall foliage and the boggy bits. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Craig Phadraig
Craig Phadraig submitted by LenGilbert : Vitrified hill fort on Craig Phadrig, aka King Brude's fort. This is an amazing spot, very easy to picture why it would have been a Pictish fort. Great views of everything around and no easy way to approach as it's all pretty steep going the last bit to the top. You can see the remains of the walls in the left side of this photo. The area is a large oval covering the hilltop. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Craig Phadraig
Craig Phadraig submitted by Andy B : Path nearing the top of Craig Phadrig Copyright Chris Wimbush and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Craig Phadraig
Craig Phadraig submitted by Andy B : The old fort in Craig Phadrig Woods The south west corner of the old fort in Craig Phadrig Woods. Copyright david johnston and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
NH6445 : Craig Phadrig, Inverness by Mike Pennington
by Mike Pennington
©2009(licence)
NH6345 : Looking down the steps by Alasdair MacNeill
by Alasdair MacNeill
©2012(licence)
NH6345 : Path nearing the top of Craig Phadrig by Chris Wimbush
by Chris Wimbush
©2010(licence)
NH6345 : Craig Phadrig Fort by Alpin Stewart
by Alpin Stewart
©2014(licence)
NH6345 : The old fort in Craig Phadrig Woods by david johnston
by david johnston
©2007(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.5km SW 223° Leachkin* Chambered Cairn (NH62964416)
 2.2km E 98° Knocknagael* Class I Pictish Symbol Stone (NH662448)
 2.6km SW 221° Ladystone Farm* Stone Row / Alignment (NH62204330)
 2.7km E 88° Inverness Museum* Museum (NH66684519)
 2.7km E 88° Clach-na-Crudainn* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NH66684521)
 3.2km E 93° Broad Stone Early Christian Sculptured Stone (NH672449)
 4.8km E 89° Raigmore* Clava Cairn (NH6878445083)
 4.8km S 174° Torbreck* Stone Circle (NH64384039)
 5.0km E 95° Essich House Class I Pictish Symbol Stone (NH69004456)
 5.1km E 88° Beechwood Farm Site Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry (NH6908045190)
 5.5km ESE 124° Druidtemple* Stone Circle (NH685420)
 6.5km SSW 195° Kinchyle Of Dores* Stone Circle (NH62153898)
 6.9km ENE 74° Milton Stone Row Stone Row / Alignment (NH70704690)
 6.9km S 171° Essich Moor* Chambered Cairn (NH649383)
 7.7km NNW 342° The Temple (Tore)* Chambered Tomb (NH6179952610)
 7.9km ENE 71° Allanfearn* Chambered Cairn (NH716476)
 8.2km WSW 258° Giant's Grave (Highlands) Chambered Cairn (NH55904369)
 8.3km E 87° St Mary's Well (Culloden)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NH723453)
 8.5km N 359° Cloutie Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NH641537)
 8.7km SSE 152° Tomfat Plantation* Chambered Cairn (NH678374)
 8.8km ENE 72° Cullearnie* Stone Circle (NH72504768)
 8.9km NNE 24° Craiguck Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NH679532)
 8.9km WSW 258° Balblair Class I Pictish Symbol Stone (NH55184357)
 9.1km NW 315° Mains of Kilcoy SE* Cairn (NH57765186)
 9.2km NW 315° Mains of Kilcoy NW* Cairn (NH57725191)
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"Craig Phadraig" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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Onsite and Online at Craig Phadrig by Andy B on Monday, 02 April 2012
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Archaeologists recognise the importance of historic environment records, but who else uses them? An imaginative approach by Forestry Commission Scotland and the Highland Council (covering the northern third of mainland Scotland) is creating a real public benefit. Matt Ritchie and Sylvina Tilbury report.

Few Highland Pictish forts have been adequately excavated or securely dated, and Craig Phadrig has great archaeological potential. It is today close to a major population centre, so also has value to an interested public. It is on the national forest estate, and Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) has recently undertaken conservation work as part of the 'Woodlands in and Around Towns' initiative. And the land manager and the local authority have together encouraged local schools to visit and learn from it.

Most hillforts in Scotland date from the later half of the first millennium BC, although some were built (or, like Craig Phadrig, re-used) in the first millennium AD. In De Bello Gallico, a first hand account of the Roman conquest of Celtic Gaul written in the middle of the first century BC, Julius Caesar describes a contemporary hillfort as "a place admirably fortified by nature and by art". This eloquent phrase captures the essence of a hillfort, defined by both natural topography and well-built defences. Such forts combined defensive strongholds with clear statements of land ownership and tribal belonging.

Craig Phadrig, with two walls enclosing a space some 75m by 25m, forms a flat crown to he afforested hill above Inverness, with impressive views out over the Beauly Firth. Limited excavation 40 years ago recovered pottery imported from France and a piece of escutcheon (a type of decorative plate) from a bronze hanging bowl, all dating from around AD 600; in 1808 a massive silver chain, weighing 2.6kg and thought to be a symbol of Pictish kings, was found nearby in Torvean.

Both walls are heavily vitrified, a curious feature particularly distinctive of some Scottish forts.

Read more at British Archaeology
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba121/feat5.shtml
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Craig Phadraig by absynthia01 on Sunday, 06 February 2011
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I have noticed on the map for the Inverness area in general that the Ord Hill fort on the Black Isle is missing.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Craig Phadraig by Anonymous on Monday, 15 January 2007
Would be very interested to hear your theory on how this was done - especially as I'm told that the 'conventional' method (using a straightforward wood fire) would have required more timber than could actually have been growing on the hill the fort tops . . .

Beyond this, the other fascinating question is WHY was it done?
I've heard that to make a 7ft wall by this method would have required the building of a 20ft+ initial wall, and the end result would be a less secure fortification than a standard stone wall.

The whole thing is more than a little strange however you look at it, and I'm surprised there isn't considerably more speculation and interest in this process.

All 'facts' here came from a local archeologist some time ago, so hopefully still as relevant and accurate as possible . . .
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Craig Phadraig by absynthia01 on Sunday, 06 February 2011
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    As far as I'm aware the vitrified walls are due to burning the palisade walls down as the ppl left the fort for the last time. The vitrified wall is not defensive it's the remains of a wooden palisade infilled with rocks to make it sturdier.
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Craig Phadraig by Anonymous on Wednesday, 13 March 2002
Some ancient Scottish stone forts, such as Craig Phadraig at Inverness,
posess stone walls where the granite has been melted and fused together.
The extremely high temperatures that would be needed in order to accomplish
this would be almost impossible to produce by burning large amounts of wood
or charcoal. People seem to easily accept that the melted stones must have
been fused by a conventional fire, end of mystery, but I find it difficult
to accept this explanation.

I have heard a report that there has been at least one serious attempt where
a team of modern researchers tried to build a large wood fire against a
freshly assembled granite wall. Supposedly, the attempt also included the
use of a large quantity of high quality charcoal, plus a large bellows, but
the attempt failed.

Would you have any knowledge of who or what organization actually conducted
this experiment?

I am reasonably sure that I know how I would have melted the granite stones.
It would be possible to accomplish this feat by using commonly available
materials, and the modest resources that were available centuries ago.
Before speculating about how the deed was actually done, it would be good to
check on the results of the wood fire experiment to confirm that a normal
fire can not offer a sufficient explanation. Then, by elimination, the only
available other (natural) explanation would seem to be necessary.

Respectfully,

Bill Triplett
Lexington Park, Maryland, USA
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Craig Phadraig by Anonymous on Wednesday, 27 November 2002
    Arthur C. Clark discussed this attempt to fuse stone by wood or charcoal fire at this site in Scotland in a TV series some years ago. I don't remember the name of the TV show but it was something like "Strange unexplained mysteries..."
    Klaus Peter
    kp@rypos.com
    [ Reply to This ]

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