Green Castle, Portknockie

Green Castle is a naturally defended rocky outcrop in the village of Portknockie in Moray, Scotland, that was occupied successively by small promontory forts of the Iron Age and Pictish periods.[1]

Green Castle
Green Castle
Shown within Moray
Coordinates57.70607°N 2.85894°W / 57.70607; -2.85894
TypePromontory fort
Length70 metres (230 ft)
Width15 metres (49 ft)
History
PeriodsIron Age, Pictish

The site forms a rocky headland 70 metres (230 ft) long and 15 metres (49 ft) wide, surrounded by steep cliffs rising 20 metres (66 ft) high above the sea.[2] The site was extensively excavated between 1976 and 1982.[1]

During the Iron Age a single palisade was built to protect the headland at its landward side.[2] Traces of the slot created by these timbers, together with an Iron Age sherd and pits have been excavated.[1] This occupation period produced evidence of metalworking, including fragments of moulds, furnaces, hammerstones and whetstones.[1] Ard marks over the upper surfaces of Iron Age archaeological layers suggest that the site was then used for agriculture before being reused for defensive purposes during the Pictish period.[1]

A new timber palisade backfilled by beach cobbles marked a first phase of Pictish activity on the site.[1] The fort was then extensively rebuilt in the 7th and 8th centuries – possibly in response to the start of Norse raids on the northern Pictish Kingdom of Fortriu – with a more sophisticated structure of timber-laced stone ramparts protecting a central stone hall.[2] These defences were later destroyed by fire, possibly the result of a Viking siege.[2]

During the 19th century the site was used for fish drying and most of the area was covered by low stone platforms.[1]

References
  1. Moray SMR.
  2. Konstam 2010, p. 21.

Bibliography
  • Konstam, Angus (2010). Strongholds of the Picts: The Fortifications of Dark Age Scotland. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781846036866. Retrieved 10 October 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Green Castle, Portknockie". Moray Sites and Monuments Record. Moray Council. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.