A Tale of Two Citadels: recent work at Burghead Pictish Fort

This talk will be given by Elinor Graham of Aberdeen University.

This talk will showcase some of the recent discoveries from the University of Aberdeen’s Northern Picts team, and the ongoing excavations of the CITADEL Project at the Pictish promontory fort at Burghead, the largest and most complex promontory fort of its date in Scotland. New research has shed light on this elite settlement, and unearthed incredible finds reflecting the sophistication of the society there. The work has revealed remarkable insights into this high-status power centre, and the wider landscape of power in early medieval northeast Scotland. Excavations have unearthed its complex and elaborate system of ramparts and defences, and the previously unsuspected density and complexity of internal occupation, including evidence of sophisticated and specialist crafting. However, the twin pressures of historic redevelopment of the village on the landward side of the fort, which led to assumptions the archaeology had been largely destroyed, and the modern threat of erosion of the coastal cliffs which represents a growing threat, mean this work is increasingly urgent to rescue information from this unique site before it is further damaged and lost to the sea.