GLEN NEVIS, SCOTLAND—According to a report in The Scotsman, a team of volunteers and archaeologists from Forestry Enterprise Scotland and Stirling University investigated possible sources of heat hot enough to fuse the stones of Iron Age hillforts together. Such “melted” stones have been found at Dun Deardail, Tap O’Noth, and Ord Hill. Matt Ritchie of Forestry Enterprise Scotland said the tests had shown the vitrified stone was likely produced when tall timber superstructures, such as roofed rampart walls, caught fire and heated the stone citadel below it “like an oven.” Now the researchers want to know whether the fires were accidental, or were set as an act of war, or were perhaps even ceremonial, set to mark the death of a revered ruler. “We may never know,” Ritchie said. Similar structures have been found in France, Germany, Wales, and Ireland. For more, go to “Letter From Wales: Hillforts of the Iron Age.”
