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Arthur's Seat: Latest Posts

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Samson's Ribs (Hillfort) — Images (click to view fullsize)

<b>Samson's Ribs</b>Posted by thesweetcheat<b>Samson's Ribs</b>Posted by thesweetcheat thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
7th November 2012ce

Duddingston Loch (Crannog) — Images

<b>Duddingston Loch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat<b>Duddingston Loch</b>Posted by thesweetcheat thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
7th November 2012ce

Samson's Ribs (Hillfort) — Miscellaneous

Canmore description (1999):
This fort occupies the top of the narrow rocky ridge above Samson's Ribs and is defended around the northern half, where the ridge is most accessible, by a single stone rampart. Elsewhere, the ridge drops precipitously and there are no visible traces of any man-made defences. On the NE, below the crest of the ridge, stretches of the outer face of the rampart still survive formed by large boulders, and in some places standing two courses in height. Along the crest of the ridge, the rubble core of the rampart can be followed as a spread of smaller stones 1.5m thick. A cleft between two outcrops indicates the position of the entrance on the NW, and leads from an external annexe on this end of the ridge into the interior. The annexe is also enclosed by a stone rampart, which can be followed along the N side but is lost on the rocky slope forming the S side of the crag; the entrance to the annexe is on the NW. Within the SE corner of the annexe, the stone footings of a wall extend for about 14m, but its date and function are uncertain. Only one possible structure is visible in the fort, and this comprises little more than an arc of stones on the S and a shallow scarp at the base of rock outcrop on the N.

Finds in and around the fort include (more from associated Canmore records):

In 1969 a fine intaglio-sadonyx (? idealized bust of Alexander the Great), set in the remains of an iron ring, was found by a boy under a stone which may have been part of a structure in the interior of the fort. It belongs perhaps to the 1st century BC, but was presumably lost after 80 AD.

A sepulchral deposit containing a cinerary urn was found, probably in 1846, immediately above Samson's Ribs when the Queen's Drive was being constructed. The urn was broken to fragments by the workmen.

Two Late Bronze Age socketed axes were found in 1846 during the construction of the Queen's Drive. They are both in the NMAS, one (Acc No DQ 89) being donated as Treasure Trove in 1846, while the other (DE 16) was donated by Wilson in 1863. They were found E of Sampson's Ribs (NT 274 725), but W of where the swords described on NT27SE 82 were found (approx NT 279 726). Wilson and Chambers both state that these axes were found along with a pygmy vessel (Chambers wrongly referring to spearheads instead of axes) which was also donated to the NMAS in 1863 by Wilson (Acc No: EC 11). Coles, however, giving no reason, does not accept this association.
Wilson, from the reticence of the labourer from whom he obtained his axe and pygmy vessel, considered that there had probably been more articles in the hoard.
D Wilson 1863; R Chamber 1855; J M Coles 1962; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1862.

Hoard, found near Queen's Drive, east of Samson's Ribs on Arthur's Seat, in 1846.
1140. (Socketed axe: Luncarty variant of Gillespie type). Socketed axe, smooth, green, partly trimmed, oblique scratch marks on blade. Length 92mm, mouth 31 x 35mm, cutting edge 59mm, weight 360gms. (Socketed axe of Everthorpe type). Socketed axe, smooth, light-green, untrimmed, sandy surface encrusted, haft ribs. Length 89mm, mouth 22 x 25mm, cutting edge 44mm, weight 135gms.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
7th November 2012ce

Arthur's Seat and Crow Hill fort (Hillfort) — Images

<b>Arthur's Seat and Crow Hill fort</b>Posted by thesweetcheat<b>Arthur's Seat and Crow Hill fort</b>Posted by thesweetcheat thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
6th November 2012ce

St. Margaret's Well (Sacred Well) — Fieldnotes

I head back to Long Row and down to the road again. Alongside the road, I stop for a quick look at St Margaret’s (or Margret’s, as Ordnance Survey have it) Well. The well is behind a grill set into a modern stone façade, topped off with railings. Sadly, it lacks any kind of ambience or even much in the way of interest, behind the dense grill. I don’t linger, but head off for a walk around the various monuments on Calton Hill, as the dusk closes in. thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
14th August 2012ce

The Dasses (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork) — Fieldnotes

From the rocks below and to the north of the summit, I hope to be able to see a line of six (yes, SIX) hut circles shown on the Ordnance Survey map along a rocky ridge above the forbidding sounding Hunter’s Bog. But the aerial view offers nothing, so I head down the steep path to the ridge to investigate further. The location is great, with good views and a flat surface. But of hut circles I can find nothing. Not even one, let alone the six that the map promises. There are some stones scattered about, protruding through the grass, but that’s about it. I spend a while walking up and down, sure that either I’m not in the right place or that sooner or later I’ll find something, but still nothing. Failed notes it is for this one. [I’m slightly relieved when I get home to find that the RCAHMS 1998 visit was similarly unable to find any hut circles here. Perhaps we’re all looking in the wrong place?] thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
14th August 2012ce

Arthur's Seat and Crow Hill fort (Hillfort) — Fieldnotes

Holyrood Park stretches out before me, a relative wilderness at the heart of such a cosmopolitan city. I’m immediately glad to be wearing boots, for the paths are muddy and slippery. No gentle urban promenade then. I take a path marked “Dry Dam” on the Ordnance Survey map, skirting the southwestern end of St Margaret’s Loch and passing below the fragmentary remains of St Anthony’s Chapel, perched on a rocky shelf above the water. The whole of the park appears covered in archaeological remains of one sort or another.

Dry Dam becomes Long Row, a gently sloping climb up the valley between Whinny Hill and the higher Arthur’s Seat. Tiny figures surround the trig point on the summit, a popular walk even on this grey October evening. Whinny Hill, over to my left, looks the perfect spot for a hillfort, being encircled by a series of natural terraces, but the hill is actually bare of any remains. After a while, the view to the east reveals Dunsapie, where a kidney-shaped loch provides a natural moat on the north and west sides of the flat-topped hillfort. One for another day though.

My path continues to climb, before a fork offers a choice of the lower Crow Hill straight ahead or the steeper route to the main summit to my right. I take the latter, eager to get up to the top while the best of the light remains. It’s not the best of visibility either way, a misty grey cloud hanging low and blotting out anything much further away than the centre of the city, the Pentland Hills are little more than a blue smudge.

The climb steepens, providing a view down onto the flat plateau above the Salisbury Crags cliff tops. At the top, the path turns to bare rock and becomes a near-scramble. Being a volcanic hill, the rock is hard and glassy, making it very slippery in the slight damp of the evening. The summit is marked with a graffiti’d trig pillar showing, rather enterprisingly, a sword in a stone. There are also quite a few people (mainly tourists like me) who’ve made the walk up. Calton Hill looks a long way below and even the rocky promontory of Edinburgh Castle is dwarfed by this hill, despite its relatively modest height. There is an excellent view of neighbouring Crow Hill, but from this side no traces of the hillfort remain that I can see.

So I head off over there for a closer look. The summit of Crow Hill is lower and much flatter than that of Arthur’s Seat, more suited to enclosing for settlement or defensive purposes. However, there are no obvious remains that I could see on the hill, the possible exception being on the eastern slopes. Here, some bands of rock suggest the possible remains of a rampart, but these could equally be natural. Below these, a series of cultivation terraces cut across the hill as it slopes towards Dunsapie. I walk around the hilltop for a while, still finding nothing obvious, before heading back towards the path below Arthur’s Seat.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
14th August 2012ce
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