iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Replies

tagishsimon.bsky.social @tagishsimon.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Dark ages singular and fairly epic countour fort, described by RCAHMS as 'impressive', and 'I do not know anything comparable' ... which you'll never see b/c it's under trees and scrub. Just along a plateau from a huge Roman fort area. Inchtuthil, Perth & Kinross,. * maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/...

LIDAR image of a contour fort on the edge of a plateau, small and rectangular with curves corners, protected by six of so rows of ramparts and ditches running roughly north-south.

Aerial image of a patch of scraggy woodland at the intersection of four fields.

110

tagishsimon.bsky.social @tagishsimon.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Canmore/Trove record. * www.trove.scot/place/28598#...

Description: This fort occupies a promontory at the SW extremity of the plateau formed by the shifting of the bed of the River Tay, and occupied for the most part by its ephemeral neighbours, the Roman fort and camp. It is remarkable for having provided some of the earliest evidence for all-timber defences in Scotland. This consisted of a palisade trench running across the tail of the promontory accompanied by a ditch, both elements being found when a trench was dug into the fort in 1901. The area demarcated by the palisade and the rim of the promontory measured about 200 ft (60.9m) by 100 ft (30.5m) along the principal axes. This was doubled at some time after the Romans had abandoned their ambitious works on the main part of the plateau (NO13NW 5.00, 5.01, 5.02, 5.07 and 5.08), when as many of five ramparts and ditches were thrown across the neck of the promontory. The defended area now measured about 250 ft (76.2m) athwart the promontory and 150 ft (45.7m) along it. The defences occupied a space some 300 ft (91.4m) in width by 200 ft (60.9m) in length. Great numbers of the blocks of Gourdie stone used by the Romans to face their rampart were taken and used in this remarkable work. A hole was made in the middle of the enclosure in 1901, revealing what appeared to be part of the paved floor of a circular house.
R W Feachem 1963.

Description: Fort, Inchtuithil
There is nothing to add to the account given in Proceedings, xxxv. The fort is clearly of Dark Age date since it incorporates Gourdie stones from the Roman fortress in the ramparts. The ramparts are impressive by reason of their scale, comparatively good state of preservation, and the large area which they cover in relation to the modest size of the interior. I do not know anything comparable.

000