The Early Medieval Landscape Of Donside, Aberdeenshire

Abstract

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has conducted a detailed survey of Donside in north-east Scotland, aimed at recording and interpreting the landscape from the source of the Don at the foot of the Lecht to its mouth at Aberdeen, some 70km to the east. In Donside, the principal archaeological evidence for the early medieval period was forty-one symbol stones, three cross-slabs, two massive silver chains and a handful of early Christian crosses. The opportunities for survey under early medieval landscape in Donside are evidently limited; the majority of the remains are post-medieval and only the largest burial cairns and earthworks survive from earlier periods. One of the more common discoveries associated with Pictish symbol stones are the remains of burials. Keywords: Aberdeenshire archaeological services; Donside stones; early medieval landscape; Pictish symbol stones