Maiden Castle, Insch, Aberdeenshire: choice and architecture in Pictland

Keyhole excavation undertaken at Maiden Castle as part of a wider study into Aberdeenshire hillforts, revealed two new Pictish site-types: a small thick walled stone enclosure (c20m internal diameter) and a surrounding double bank and ditch system. Artefact and radiometric dating places the site sequence within the second half of the first millennium AD. In addition, evidence was recovered for non-ferrous metal-working and putative rectilinear buildings. These findings are discussed in terms of the existing picture of Pictish Aberdeenshire.