Tiny village was once site of large Royal palace with links across Europe, researchers find

A tiny quiet village in a rural setting was once the site of a large Royal palace with links across Europe researchers found.

Rhynie has a population of just 500 today but 1,400 years ago was home to thousands.

Excavations have revealed tools for making jewellery and other intricate metalwork, as well as glass vessels imported from western France.

A decade of archaeological research has revealed that the Aberdeenshire village was once home to a Pictish royal centre with connections stretching across the Continent.

Far from being an isolated rural community, discoveries and research showed Rhynie was once a vibrant centre of political authority, international connectivity and elite craftsmanship, as reported by Whats The Jam.

Excavations by University of Aberdeen staff found rare Mediterranean and continental imports. (Jam Press/University of Aberdeen)

Excavations by University of Aberdeen staff found rare Mediterranean and continental imports, including glass vessels from western France and evidence for the drinking of wine, demonstrating that the Picts were active participants in long-distance exchange networks that stretched from the Byzantine world to Ireland and western Britain.

Professor Gordon Noble who has led the research said: “When we began work at Rhynie, we knew it was significant but we had no idea just how important it would turn out to be.

“What we’ve uncovered is the footprint of a major royal centre, a place that played a pivotal role in the formation of the Pictish kingdoms.

“For decades, people assumed early medieval northern Scotland was sparsely populated and politically fragmented.

“Rhynie shows us something very different – a powerful, organised place with large settlements and sophisticated connections with the wider world.”

Discoveries of intricate metalwork, including an axe-shaped pin, ceramic moulds used to cast metal jewellery, and stone vessels for refining silver, provide further evidence of the site’s elite status.

Objects associated with ritual, ceremony and burial, together with the international connections of the site and its artefacts, and the place-name Rhynie which comes from the early Celtic word for king, led the archaeologists to the conclusion that Rhynie was once a significant royal seat of Pictish power.

The surrounding landscape has also yielded extraordinary revelations.

At Tap o’ Noth, overlooking the village, archaeologists identified one of the largest ancient settlements ever discovered in Scotland.

Drone surveys and laser mapping revealed up to 800 hut platforms within a vast 17-hectare hillfort enclosure, suggesting a population that may have comprised thousands of people in the fifth and sixth centuries AD.

This challenges long-held assumptions about the scale of early medieval communities and further positioned Rhynie and its environs as a major centre of population and political organisation during the formation of the Pictish kingdoms.

Dr Helen Spencer, of Antiquaries of Scotland, said: “At the heart of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland’s mission is a commitment to empowering research and disseminating knowledge of the past.

“We are, therefore, immensely proud to publish this nationally important monograph, which will have a major impact on the study of Pictish kingship and society.”

Dr Gemma Cruickshanks, Post-Excavation Officer at National Museums Scotland, where the objects found at Rhynie were sent for analysis and research, said: “Analysis of the many moulds and crucibles left behind by Rhynie’s metalworkers reveals the site was also a centre for the production of hundreds of high-status metal objects.

“These were mainly jewellery such as pins, brooches and rings but also small boar and wolf figurines which have never been found before.

“The details of these finds reveal an exceptional level of skill and artistry which is unparalleled in Scotland during this period.

“Other finds, like pottery and glass vessels from the Mediterranean and quern stones for grinding grain, illustrate extensive trade networks and daily life at Rhynie.”

The Picts, the descendants of Iron Age tribes, are known for decorating standing stones with intricate carvings and constructing impressive hillforts.

They ruled northern and eastern Scotland for hundreds of years before vanishing from written records about 1,100 years ago, the name of their kingdom disappearing with them.