Hill forts

I went on a long walk this morning in Holyrood Park, a large park behind my dorm area. I had been wanting to explore it before, but I hadn't gotten around to it, even thought it's practically out my back door. But in my Archaeology of Scotland course, our lectures had been on the Bronze Age, and yesterday's class was all about hill forts, structures built during that time. Remembering my experience at the Register, I realized that, for once in my career as a college student, I didn't have to assume that all the sites I was learning about were thousands of miles across the sea; that was why I was here, wasn't it?

So after class I went up to the lecturer, a Bronze Age archaeologist, and asked him if there happened to be any hill forts nearby that I might be able to go take a look at. And his enthusiastic response was that there were in fact three of these hill forts right in Holyrood Park. So this morning I thought it might be nice to go see what this park is all about, while also looking for what he said was the biggest hill fort, unusually large for such a structure. I had a feeling that it might be hard to spot, being perhaps more than two thousand years old, so I did some reconnaissance on Google Earth before I left, and did in fact see a large raised area on top of the Salisbury Crags, right where our lecturer had said it was.

The jist of this post is that I ran out between breakfast and class to go look at a Bronze Age hill fort. And it took me two whole weeks to realize I could do this.

Anyways, I took a nice walk up into the park; it was a little drizzly, but not too bad. The park is quite beautiful; it consists mainly of the Salisbury Crags, which slope down into a valley with a small lake, and then abruptly up into a large hill called Arthur's Seat, which is a rather prominent feature in the city. It extends back a ways too, but I only went up onto the crags; I intend to climb Arthur's Seat another time soon. Apparently there is another smaller hill fort on top, as well as terracing on the far side, remnants of prehistoric farming.

Because it was slightly raining, it was also slightly muddy, so the narrow earthen tracks leading up to the crags were a little treacherous. There were a few people out and about, a number of runners on the main track through the park, but mostly dog owners. I walked across the large field making up the back of the crags, keeping an eye out for mounts that would represent the hill fort. I went back and forth two or three times, in the end, but came up each time with nothing. The hill fort was no where to be seen. There were a couple of workers on the very edge of the crags who I briefly suspected of being archaeologists but were probably something else; one was rappelling down the cliff face. They probably thought I was crazy, as well as the hooded person perched on the edge of an outcrop looking out over the city.

But I was determined to find this fort. I had plenty of time before class, so I took a break from my hunt to approach, from a safe distance, the edge of the crags and take some pictures of Edinburgh. It started to really rain at this point, but I was able to get some nice overview shots of the city.


After looking out for a while and taking some more pictures of the park itself, and watching some of the dogs romping around in the wet grass below, it occurred to me that maybe I was going about this fort search the wrong way. Of course, it was only a raised area in the meadow, according to Google Earth, and although it was quite large, perhaps approaching it horizontally wasn't the best way to see it. I looked down from my position on top of the hill, but still saw nothing. So I thought, if I can't see it from the sides or from above, maybe I can see it from below?

Yet again I found the track, and made my way down to a little outcrop of rocks quite a ways down the hill. Upon reaching my destination, I turned around, and voila! There was the hill fort, perfectly laid out in front of me, and perfectly visible. The outcrop turned out to be the bottom edge of what was a vaguely elliptical raised section of the meadow - clearly not a natural feature. Needless to say, I was pretty excited, and spent a while more walking around the entire fort, trying to imagine how many people could have fit inside, how thick the walls could have been, etc. I'm sure the workman on top thought I was completely mad by this point.

I got the same thrill I had experienced when seeing the remains at the Register: here I was, standing on top of a fort which had been used by people thousands of years ago. Of course, there is history of this kind in America, but it's not visible, and even less is known of the history of the Native Americans than of the Bronze Age Britons. The people who lived in this hill fort were also the predecessors of the people I have been studying right next door. Of course this is why I am in Scotland; not only can I study medieval Scottish history, which isn't frequently taught in America, definitely not at Smith, but I can also go and experience these kinds of places, places for which I am devoting four years of my life, and, I expect, many more after that.

I also saw a large flock of crows as I left; I was really hoping they were ravens so I could take them as a sign from Odin. Maybe next time.