Favourite discoveries of this year
DIGGING INTO THE PAST with Dr Murray Cook
Thankfully 2022 is nearly over and what a year it’s been: three Prime Ministers, Covid is still with us, inflation and war in Europe.
Archaeology and history can seem frivolous at times like this, but I believe they are important indicators of our civilisation and at the personal level how to meet new people and have fun.
So here are some my favourite discoveries of 2022 which of all of you as readers, council tax payers and volunteers helped uncover.
At sleepy little Kippen we found what is likely to be the best preserved Viking Age fort in Scotland, built in the 9th or 10 th century when Scotland’s frontier was the Forth and our kings were still dying in battle with maraudingvikings.
We also explored the home of Scotland’s most recognised and valuable brand: tartan and its modern home in Bannockburn.
At Balfron, we uncovered 6000 years’worth of carving, the combination unique in Britain.
At Callander, we excavated a 2000 year old upstanding roundhouse in at times some very cold weather.
At Fintry we found the remains of a castle that Rob Roy may have visited which had been turned into a garden feature!
My favourite though was at Old Kilmadock where we found an ogham inscription on a Pictish cross… the first in the whole of Stirling district.
This cross, the earliest evidence for Christianity in the area will change our understanding of who controlled Dark Age Stirling.
Everywhere we look we find more and more about just how incredible Stirling and its past was but also and far more importantly friends, both old and new.
There will of course be more digging and more friends in 2023 and you are all welcome to join – even if it’s only from the pages of the Stirling Observer.
Happy New Year!