Scientists develop a ‘game-changing’ test for prostate cancer

Newly-uncovered site said to be unlike others and ‘almost urban in scale’

Archaeologists have unearthed a “mind-blowing” Pictish site believed to be the largest ever discovered.

The settlement perched on the Tap o’ Noth hill near Rhynie in Aberdeenshire is among the most extensive examples of ancient life ever found in Scotland.

It encloses around 17 acres and was constructed in the fifth to sixth centuries.

The settlement would have held as many as 4,000 people, a scale which experts thought was not reached until the 12th Century in Scotland.

Professor Gordon Noble, who led the Aberdeen University research, said: “Over the last two years we have been investigating the lower fort at Tap o’ Noth, which is enclosed by a rampart that encircles the lower slopes of the hill.

“The results of the dating were simply incredible.

“They show that the huge fort dated to the Fifth to Sixth Centuries CE and that it was occupied at the same time as the elite complex in the valley at Barflat farm.

“Dating shows that settlement on the hill extended as far back as the Third Century, but both hut platforms excavated also had Fifth to Sixth Century AD phases.”

The Picts were a confederation of Celtic-speaking communities who lived in the east and north of Scotland during the Late British Iron Age and Early Medieval periods.

Distribution of the buildings at the site suggests they are likely to have been built and occupied at a similar time because many are positioned alongside trackways or clustered together in groups.

Drone surveys also showed that in these groups was one notably larger hut, indicating there may have been some form of hierarchical organisation within the fort.

Evidence suggests up to 4,000 people may have lived in more than 800 huts perched high on the hill, and scientists believe each would be occupied by four to five people.

Prof Noble added: “That’s verging on urban in scale, and in a Pictish context we have nothing else that compares to this.

“We had previously assumed that you would need to get to around the 12th Century in Scotland before settlements started to reach this size.

“We obviously need to do more to try and date more of the hut platforms given there are hundreds of them, but potentially we have a huge regional settlement with activity emerging in the Late Roman Iron Age and extending to the Sixth Century.

“It is truly mind-blowing and demonstrates just how much we still have to learn about settlement around the time that the early kingdoms of Pictland were being consolidated.”

Scientists have developed a “gamechanging” test that can detect prostate cancer.

The new 15-minute scan means people can avoid having to undergo rectal examinations, according to researchers.

The prostagram treatment trialled by doctors at Imperial College London uses MRI, similar to breast cancer screening for women.

Four hundred volunteers aged between 50 and 69 were tested using the scanning method as well as the standard prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

The prostogram was found to be better at detecting aggressive cancers than PSA in the 4% of volunteers who needed treatment.

Around 50,000 men in the UK are told they have the disease each year, and one in eight will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

The development has been hailed as a “game changer” by senior author, Professor Hashim Ahmed.

He said: “The number of aggressive prostate cancers missed by PSA highlights the importance of ramping up our research efforts into alternative ways to screen for prostate cancer.”

Imperial College research fellow Dr David Eldred-Evans described the test as a “non-invasive, safe and more acceptable way to test men for prostate cancer”.

He added: “Unfortunately men can often be put off from seeking medical advice for prostate issues because they are worried about the need for a rectal examination.”

He hopes the breakthrough “may encourage more men to have a prostate health check”.

One of the volunteers has now successfully been treated for prostate cancer picked up by the scan, despite it being missed by the PSA test.

Mark, 61, said: “If I hadn’t taken part in the trial and just gone to my doctor I would have accepted that my PSA was still completely normal.

“Now if someone asked me, I’d say to request an MRI scan.”

“The results of the dating were simply incredible. PROFESSOR GORDON NOBLE