Stunning video shows how ‘earliest Pictish fort’ could have looked

A stunning video, based on research by the University of Aberdeen, has revealed what one of the earliest known Pictish forts may have looked like.
Archaeologists investigating a substantially eroded sea stack near the site of the ruined Dunnotar Castle, which itself was a later Pictish power centre, uncovered evidence of a third or fourth century promontory fort.
The new video, funded by Historic Environment Scotland, illustrates how the fort may have looked if the sea stack, called Dunnicaer, was still connected to the mainland.
www.abdn.ac.uk/news/13042

[@gremlinking5640]

Finally the algorithm gets something right

[@sailorkek8672]

Now if only they could stop the god awful mobile game and tik tok adverts youtube might be a decent platform again.

[@pepin8277]

@@sailorkek8672 and the scam ads...

[@pepin8277]

oh and promoting gambling to underaged children or to people that don't want to see it...

[@AirborneVet]

Agreed.

[@Kdssow]

I know right?

[@Utubepooperful]

The thing that is always lost in these videos is that fact that people actually had their entire lives there. Babies were born, parents put them to sleep, got up in the middle of the night to feed them, argued about families, people slept listening to the sound of the waves, stumbled along that pathway drunk, and had parties. It's always great to stand in the ruins of an old home and imagine who stood in that spot before you.

[@aaronvallejo8220]

I love that feeling of the timelessness of a place...kids falling in love, same kids scared of constant risk of butchery...while we stand here momentarily in peace.

[@davidpetersen1]

I completely agree. A few years ago I did a slow but ongoing, major reno to an 1890's bungalow. Always finding small artifacts behind baseboards, peeling back layers of wallpaper.. everything feeds the imagination.

[@-deepoid-9158]

Its quite comforting to think that humans that lived hundreds of years ago are really no different from you and me today, aside from the technology we live with. Also I couldn’t imagine walking along that skinny little pathway after 1 too many meads lol

[@scottwhitley3392]

Yep, I live in a house in Dalkeith built in 1803. I always wonder at night what type of people slept in the room I’m in, what they did for a job, what were their hopes for for the future ect...

[@ape_man504]

Ya I agree. You sir are awesome for describing a feeling that is hard to put into words at least for me

[@crazyflaps169]

Crazy to imagine how many sites like this may have once existed that have been completely wiped out and we'll never know about them.

[@coltonbates629]

and to imagine the implications that creates for our future. If, of course, we have one.

[@krashd]

8,000 years ago Britain and Ireland were not even islands, we were just the two highest parts of a large plain called Doggerlands. Imagine what settlements existed at the bottom of what is now the North Sea?

[@therealdarklizzy]

And to imagine what will remain of our civilization.

[@bulletsfordinner8307]

@@krashd crazy to think eh? Do you have any links you can share?

[@smorrow]

Graham Hancock has entered the chat

[@Sirmenonottwo]

"The romans will never get us here!" but then erosion happened.

[@iumiforgot]

Picts slowly sinking into the sea, but perfectly safe from romans

[@angelopueyygarcia43]

the romans never did get them. Although that’s probably because the Romans thought they were absolutely worthless rather than their forts.

[@TarsonTalon]

@@angelopueyygarcia43 No treasure+incredible defenses=no taxes

[@sutapasbhattacharya9471]

Although the Romans built the wall, they had managed to conquer Scotland in the 70s c.e. but they withdrew from it as it was not economically worthwhile spending money on troops in this largely barren land. They had an episode about the mysterious 'disappearance' of the 'Picts' (around 9th Century) on Clive Anderson's Mystic Britain series on Smithsonian Channel last week The Romans called them them Picts due to their body paint/tatoos and the elite amongst them seem to have adopted it. It seems that the Vikings weren't much interested in the Scottish mainland either although they settled the Orkneys, Ireland, Western Isles etc. However, the 'disappearance' of the so-called 'Picts' seems to have been due to the Vikings killing off most of the Pictish nobles in some battle. The Scotti or Gaels who had invaded Western Scotland from Ireland - under Kenneth McAlpine annexed the Pictish lands and the Pictish peasants began to see view themselves as Scots.

[@roryross3878]

@@sutapasbhattacharya9471 Appreciated your summary , thank you!

[@TheBrianp1]

Picts or it didn't happen. Fine fine, video also works.

[@caninecurry5823]

This should be the top comment.

[@roryross3878]

😆😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@tomat05]

*facepalms*

[@paulcooper8818]

The defensive value is obvious but imagine what it was like when big North Sea storms hit

[@EscanV]

"We must defend our settlement from our waring neighbours" "But lord king the sea...."

[@JacarandaMusic]

Bit draughty.

[@khangsector]

Yet its very strategic characteristic is also its downfall. If the enemy was to blockage the path, the town's logistic will fall in no time. It will turn into a waiting game, instead of saber clashing.

[@poetsrear]

Nevermind that, but imagine carrying all the fresh water there....

[@ivx8345]

The History Channel: "Could it be the Picts were attacked by aliens? Ufologist and author D. Funnyhat says yes: We can see that there is a circle carved in a stone, that is evidence for the flying saucer."

[@yllbardh]

and they had automobiles, the proof is the two circles connected by a line

[@Catubrannos]

I'm waiting for next week's episode - Did nazi scientists unearth Pictish ufo, what was the real reason for Rudolf Hess' mission to Scotland?

[@dreamdiction]

"aliens" . . . you mean barbary slave traders ?

[@BuriedFlame]

This is what History Channel is now? Creative writing?

[@luxborealis]

@@yllbardh Welcome to Top Gear Caledonia with Yachmas Maii!

[@ezekielbrockmann114]

Makes you wonder what they're going to be saying about us in the 37th Century, doesn't it?

[@majorhippo2772]

Don't have too, the internet is always gonna be around, like a giant library of well... If you consider Facebook as well, a giant library of every human accomplishment and every human themselves. It will get to the point where Facebook will have an ancestry section that will allow family members to look at their great grandfathers facebooks...

[@tastycookiechip]

@@majorhippo2772 the Internet will be our destruction

[@majorhippo2772]

@@tchaika2697 Not the same analogy though, the Romans where one civilisation amongst others that fell. Every country on this planet now uses the internet. Only way we could lose the internet is if every country unanimously decided to get rid of it or Aliens nuked us.

[@shekelmcfreckle]

@@majorhippo2772 A solar storm could knock that shit out in seconds and everything that wasn't stored in a physical format somewhere safe from the EMP would be lost. Not to mention we wouldn't have the electricity to even access what might have survived. Nothing's permanent.

[@majorhippo2772]

@@shekelmcfreckle Except there are data centres out there that have redundancies for EMP's. Every Government out there knows that EMP's are a threat and so has according precautions.

[@flensdude]

1:22 It's amazing how ahead of their time the Picts were. They had levitating technology millennias before we even landed on the moon.

[@60secondscotland.78]

Landed on the moon!! LANDED ON THE MOON!!! LLF.

[@Benzy670]

I love this, because these people were my ancestors, and we know so little about them. Bless archeologists for trying 🙏🏻

[@SamTheManWhoCanTwice]

most scottish people are scots not picts

[@Tsoiugidali]

Thank you for this video. My yDNA goes all the way back to the Pictish People in this area of Scotland. Coincidentally, 7 generations of my family were born, lived and died in Dunnottar Castle. I have a large picture of Dunnottar hanging on my living room wall. I am an old man now and will never travel to Scotland. Videos like yours helps me to remember things I have never known.

[@dannyboywhaa3146]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHipi4dpi7SmnLs - awesome new discovery of an early Pictish fort or Kingdom in Aberdeenshire! It dwarfs any other in the UK and is possibly the largest post-roman fort found in all of Europe! The Vikings didn’t just suddenly appear - they were doing things before the 8th Century, as were the Picts - there’s a reason the Romans built two walls, and it wasn’t to keep out a few hundred Scots - I believe ancient British and Norse/danish cultures were very closely linked! It’s a pretty awesome discovery!

[@dannyboywhaa3146]

Cymro 65 yes, quite correct - slip of the tongue... indeed the Scotti as the Romans called them were Gaels in Northern Ireland, correct? And they held the Hebrides and most other Scottish Islands from Northern Ireland? Picts only means painted ones in Latin after all, so we don’t really know who they were. They were pushed into what we now consider their homelands - north eastern Scotland/Aberdeenshire. I think the links between Orkney, Shetland and the Norse go way back - when the seas were the highways! The Norse painted themselves too after all! I never bought the story that the Romans built the walls for economic reasons or to display power! What an enormous expense - IMO there was a real threat! Northmen who controlled the high seas!

[@dannyboywhaa3146]

Cymro 65 most welcome - thanks for your intriguing reply! Ahh the Welsh - my favourite folk! Where Rugby is rightly number one! I can sing in Welsh as used to sing with John’s Boys - a very successful Welsh choir but I haven’t much understanding! It could be connected to Cumbrian, one of the Brythonic languages however, it’s all speculation as we literally don’t have any clues whatsoever! I never knew the link with the Aber prefix - although one has to treat place names carefully, as with loan words between languages, for example - Banburgh and Edinburgh - a Burgh suffix points to Anglo-Saxon founding, yet they’re in Scotland lol... I just have this strange feeling that the ancient Brythonic speakers had much contact/influence with the Greeks/Phoenicians who came to mine the tin - as Prof Wilson (the famous Welsh historian) notes with the use of the Coelbren alphabet, whereas I feel the Picts were in less contact and further north - perhaps this contact sewed the future of Picts and Welsh being different - did the ancient Welsh paint themselves? I’m not sure they did, nor the ancient Irish! So I think the Picts are closer to the Eastern cultures of Norse and Danes - the North Sea was a highway and it’s not only later times that waves of migration would come form the East! I think people have always settled the eastern coast of Britain and pushed whoever was here Westwards - it makes sense to me as most ancient civilisation came from the east... We say for certain the Welsh are the oldest - because we don’t know enough about the Picts to pass comment! For example in the link I posted above it states that this huge Pictish settlement was far older than they anticipated and far grander - pushing the dates for the Picts much further back in time!

[@Argrouk]

@Cymro 65 Rumour has it the Picts didn't write, which is why so much is lost. The earliest we have are Irish Ogham on some Class I Pictish stones from about 5 AD or something. Added to that all our historical documents stolen by the English that are now at the bottom of the sea. It's safe to say that the Picts were pre-Roman, and could go anywhere back to 6000 BC if they are the same people who lived and worshipped on Orkney.

[@Argrouk]

@Cymro 65 No need to apologise, and yes, very interesting times. DNA research is still young, many mistakes are being made surrounding where people live now, versus where they actually came from. There are also many arguments about the differences between genocide, conquering and assimilation. The standard assumption was that the Scotti wiped out the Picts, but it's probably safer to say that they took over the kingship rather than mass murder. Gaelic replaced Celtic, just as Latin and then English mostly replaced Gaelic in modern times. There is evidence of people living in Scotland going back over 10,000 years, but trying to name them or map them is pretty impossible, especially as archaeology is a minor pursuit in Scotland, with most people caring about Romans onwards. Hopefully we will get more Stone Age and Bronze age sites discovered, and we can learn more about the ancients.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

So much erosion happening all up the east coast of Scotland, there's no telling what's been lost.

[@MyKharli]

Lots erosion all over UK , its the big swells that really beat the coast even if its not especially high tide or bad storm and surge, when all come together there's disasters waiting to happen .

[@GaldirEonai]

Particularly annoying for archeologists because of course coastal areas make _extremely_ popular settlement sites. And it's precisely the places that would have had the most action going on that are falling into the sea :P.

[@EscanV]

Our Freedom for one.... DA DUM TSSSSS

[@2sik_UK]

@@GaldirEonai not only that, I think like 12000-13000 years ago Britain was connected too mainland Europe still and there were vast plains called doggerland and hundreds of miles of land completely submerged. Its crazy too think of all the history list too the sea, its even expected that the Isles of scilly were hill toops and connected too mainland Cornwall some time ago within the same period, they are 28 miles off the coast, imagine all the sites that could be lost

[@GaldirEonai]

@@2sik_UK There's also a lot of actual sunken cities around the world that went down when the shoreline slipped, either suddenly as a result of earthquakes or slowly from erosion. They keep finding remnants of ancient settlements underwater that'd tell us an amazing amount about life in those times if they hadn't been underwater for millennia. I strongly suspect any archaeologist ends up developing a strong dislike for the ocean over their career :P.

[@Requiredfields2]

2:38 I have translated the symbols in a counter clockwise direction starting at the top thusly: Eat some fish, take mushrooms, create freaky art, go for bike ride. Life was good.

[@BigfootAnthropologist]

Fascinating video of some extremely significant archaeological discoveries along with important information about natural transformations of the landscape leading to loss of these cultural resources.

[@aapzehrsteurer9000]

inb4 they find weebs' body pillows and classify them as cult images.

[@marshmallowwolf3976]

Im starting my Honours on archaeological reconstruction and 3D techonology, and this has made me so happy

[@bernielarsen8108]

Thats awesome dude. What site/ sites are you focusing on and what recording tech are you using?

[@juliaconnell]

Thank you for this - this was awesome - always been fascinated by picts, esp as so little known about them

[@naturel19761]

Indeed, it seems also that the picts were here too in Vendee, french department under britain (bretagne) which were called here pictons with the same way and habits of life than in scotland.

[@Ian_Carolan]

@@naturel19761 It would be interesting to know if the "Auld Alliance" has its roots as far back as then.

[@DarkEuropa]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to make such a wonderful production. Well done!

[@yaznarerkinsaw1914]

Makes you wonder how much history is lost to time, located in places that no longer exist for us to find.

[@JonS]

If you add pre-history to that, places like Doggerland submerged in the post-gracial sea level rise, both fuel the imagination and provide a source of sadness for so much knowledge that is hidden.

[@blacky1987]

I like this train of thought. I often look at ruins up the Highlands of Scotland or formations that look too man made and always ask myself " what happened here" spend days thinking about what may have been going on there. Nerdy i know but i cant help it

[@tedball8677]

Thank you very much. So very well done. Much respect from across the pond.

[@IsThisHandleTaken]

Excellent video! Anytime we get to see a reconstruction of a historical town/fort/castle it's a win for the people!

[@email5for6casey]

Fascinating, and inspiring! Thanks for sharing!

[@TheLittledikkins]

Thank you for putting this video up.

[@eltajinrestaurant-anauthen9427]

I am learning so much, thank you for sharing the knowledge, huge fan of you work.

[@Tiki_Media]

Great video. I love when you can SEE history. My compliments to the teams of hardworking people who made this possible. Thank you!

[@ML-762]

Always had a soft spot for Pictish history. It's been amazing how many discoveries have been made in less than 10 years.

[@mookmook5715]

Prime position, a perfect fortress in everyway.. apart from the dam corrosion.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Not even the mightiest fortress can stop nature's might.

[@angrypandable]

It could go two ways though, could be easy to keep them bottled up with a relatively small force.

[@EyeSpyHiFi]

Well, that really was enjoyable. Beautifully put together and extremely interesting. Thank you University of Aberdeen.

[@enda320]

Wow, this has recently hit algorithm gold! Nice work on the motion graphics, a very handy tool to visualise what once would have existed.

[@CatThompson]

Wonderful video! Thank you for this!

[@terryhughes7349]

Nicely done with this visualization.

[@loneranger4113]

Thank you for sharing, great video.

[@patrickvalentino600]

For all who liked this and learned something, let's all hat-tip to drones, computer animation, time-lapse HD video, and all the other technologies that allowed us to learn about this thing we otherwise would have known absolutely nothing about. Yay.

[@LynxSouth]

Many of us would have known about it. The formats in which the information is presented would have been different, but archeological discoveries and re-creations have existed since back when there was only print media. Big-city Sunday newspapers used to be quite amazing, well back into the 19thC, including all sorts of line drawings and photographs. What's really different is how easily we can access the information, and then casually watch it again and again if we want. I remember many years of National Geographic specials and other such documentaries, anticipating them and then wishing so hard I could watch them again, having no way to make sure I'd understood correctly and no way other than writing letters to ask for further details. However, I believe that that hunger for more spurred a lot of us into making the effort to look up books at the library, which helped us develop real interests. I'm guessing that now, lots of people watch another video or two and then forget about the topic. But yeah, to me, this sort of video is what the internet was made for.

[@BenLlywelyn]

Fascinating work.

[@xres1329]

Thanks, this was new, enjoyed learning.

[@manulettleur8577]

Well no idea why this was suggested, but I love it! So fascinating!

[@homefront1999]

I've said this before and I'll say it again. If I could have one power, it'd be time travel. Just going to these sites and going back in time and seeing them in all their glory. See the people going on with their daily lives. Imagine going to New York City and then seeing what the first-ever hut that the settlement of New York was.

[@krashd]

One Dutch fella trying to build his house in a marshy bog, happy as Larry because all the flooding and dampness reminds him off home.

[@ZGADOW]

Fascinating. I think it caused my think of more questions than it answered though

[@bingbong6066]

SUPER interesting. What a lovely video.

[@scoobydooo4390]

Great archaeology and fascinating video, well done Aberdeen Uni..........

[@markleesmith729]

The reality of it being a tiny village,not a fortress,escapes this presentation.

[@Mr.McWatson]

awesome video, wish all archeological find would be shown like this

[@vickiharrington8870]

Amazing video! Thanks

[@miraclemuaythai]

super amazing, interesting and informative video!

[@DocSpooky]

Thanks, Valheim, for helping the algorithm get here

[@mrkitcatt2119]

So you can raid it like the norse of old

[@ManoNegraCG]

2:33 the carving roughly translates as, "Lavvy heid Angus came here fishing one night and the dobber lost his glasses".

[@rnedlo9909]

Thank you, beautiful picture and interesting subject. The power of water is awesome. How many sights were flooded at the end of the last ice age when the water level was 200' lower? If things continue, future generations will be speculating about us, digging around high places in Boston, London, New York, Tokyo

[@RodFleming-World]

Uh there were no sites in Scotland because it was under a sheet of ice hundreds of feet thick. Search Doggerland though.

[@rnedlo9909]

@@RodFleming-World I was talking world wide

[@bigbasil1908]

There's so much of Scotland that I haven't yet seen and I don't know if I ever will now. There is so much to be uncovered all across the British Isles that we may never know about. The past is a mystery indeed

[@duanewilliams7353]

The first pic, before we even started looked like a giant footprint!!!

[@kickbiker7920]

Excellent music to complement the clip and text!

[@PapaSchlumpf78]

Cool, thanks for the animation!

[@SouthernOceanBlue]

Fantastic video.

[@pelicanus4055]

Excellent recreation. Thank you!

[@freekmusbach8722]

Fascinating, I've been to Ireland and have seen very old forts half eaten up by the seaside ( on cliffs so very high ) and the years in general wich is logical. history at work thanks so much for the insight! Freek Musbach

[@leonlawson2196]

Brilliant

[@mariusweber4990]

Great video!

[@martinavaslovik3433]

I find myself unstunned by this stunning video.

[@brianmitchell6547]

Great Photography and music appropriate terrific.B M

[@davidhoran7116]

Makes you wonder what else the seas swallowed whole

[@thomassmith8140]

(assuming you don't know) I recommend looking into Doggerland.

[@ivan55599]

Atlantis, Mu and Lemuria. Oh l mean...

[@BaconNationChannel]

Take a look at Doggerland. Europe's Atlantis

[@KleioChronicles]

Dunnotar Castle is one of my favourites that I’ve been to because the area in Stonehaven is so pretty. I had no idea about this discovery but I suppose it must have been happening during the time I was visiting. I was also studying anthropology at Aberdeen Uni so even more surprised I didn’t hear about it. In terms of castles, I think Dunrobin Castle is my favourite. I haven’t seen Eilean Donan yet and some of the minor ruined castles but those two certainly stick out. Stirling is my sister’s favourite. I’ve been meaning to visit some of these old sites as well like the ones in Orkney. I take it that this will have been a bit hard to get to lol.

[@Jim5988]

absolutely wonderful

[@carolmurray187]

Very interesting 🙂 more please

[@donjorge8329]

Such a lovely place!!!

[@jamiemorton113]

Just think how cool this would have been when it’s a storm

[@ASSassINS111111]

*cold

[@midoribishithegamer]

This was quite informative and interesting. My grandmother (dad's mom) is from Aberdeen Scotland!

[@derektaylor8830]

Great film about an awesome site.

[@machtschnell7452]

Fascinating.

[@ksxx]

Thanks, KZbin for recommending me this.

[@rvail136]

Very cool. Nice animation.

[@fionagrahame3361]

Fabulous

[@johnsmall9729]

echo beach, far away in time...one of my favourite haunts

[@ImZyker]

fascinating stuff

[@petko5335]

One of the rare moments I thank YT for having their algorithm.

[@greenbutter3190]

Stable video 👍

[@astro_manta9733]

Funny that, I’ve walked past that stack not a small number of times, guess I’ll bring some trivia with me next time

[@edwardhanson3664]

That's a really cool video.

[@holloww_dwella]

Yes, KZbin, I do want to watch this. Good job.

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

Very beautyful.

[@Wolfgang6129]

Captivant.

[@stanettiels7367]

Well played, algorithm, well played.

[@YOURTECHFRIEND]

So beautiful :-o

[@catocall7323]

I thought someone had copied my valheim base design. Turns out it was the picts.

[@jeanpierreragequit1726]

awesome..

[@kaiserY]

Strangely I feel sad. All gone with the wind.

[@lord_kinbote3920]

"This rock dunnae look very stable." "I Dunnicaer."

[@Liamb2179]

This is so cool

[@_HonkeyKong_]

my only knowledge of the pictish before this was about the pictish boat warriors from Stronghold 2

[@rainluna9765]

It must've been incredible to live there on that piece of rock sticking out at sea.

[@sarrumac]

2:38 Guy on the right was named bicycle. What a madlad.

[@hiltonian_1260]

Many years ago (while attending Aberdeen) I visited a similar place on the NE Scottish coast called Acastle (spelling?) near Latheronwheel. Just a rough stone cube on a promontory with a razor back ridge leading out. Now I’m wondering if it is still there. Also wondering if it once was a bigger promontory.

[@LynxSouth]

Email the University of Aberdeen and ask. If they haven't done archeological work there, maybe your inquiry will encourage them to study and preserve it.

[@calumcarmichael7717]

If enough information could be amassed about them weather it’s hard fact or just rumours and then make a tv show about it, exactly like what they did with Vikings that would be fascinating

[@LynxSouth]

I'd like to 'like' this about 10 times, even though half of the programs would be the people huddling inside dark houses due to storms, or trying to shout over the wind.

[@wtfisditvoorbullshit]

All of us are slowly eroding into the sea of forgetfulness.

[@user-ee8oh2mp1u]

Земля вечна,природа вечна.Люди приходят и уходят,буря их страстей,лишь слабый всплеск в океане вечности.

[@TheRabbit123]

Looks kinda like the "How to Train Your Dragon" island

[@solidjb]

-Sire what shall we pour on them from the walls? - I dunno, tar?

[@doctorshawzy6477]

excellent..as a marine geologist I am surprised by the rather high rate of bedrock erosion...

[@howzany6832]

I played a lot of Survival games on PvP servers like on Ark Survival Evolved... and when I saw the cliff base, I immediately went "Hey that's just literally my cliff base I built to make it hard for enemy players to gank me and steal my stuff!"

[@smegmalasagna]

1:45 Yooo They recreated Solitude from The Elder Scrolls VI Skyrim!!

[@1earflapping]

At 3:29, besides the pictures of fish and mushroom, we have a depiction of the early Pictish bicycle. Historians speculated that bicycles helped the Picts outrun the Roman legions.

[@Aaron-mj9ie]

Not gonna lie, that's pretty cool looking. Imagine how neat it would have looked at night.

[@Roonayy]

Great video, although the white text can be a bit hard to read at times. I suggest a different colour or perhaps an outline or background.