'Birth certificate of Scotland' unearthed by archaeologists
IT IS one of the most evocative sites in Scotland's turbulent history - the place where Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scots before his victory over the English at Bannockburn.
The ancient mound known as the Moot Hill in the ground of Scone Palace was once the site of the "lost" abbey of Scone, founded in 1114 by Alexander I, where Scottish kings are believed to have assumed the mantle of power on the Stone of Destiny.
It was revealed yesterday that archaeologists studying the historic site have been able to use radiocarbon dating to push back the origins of the ancient seat of ecclesiastical and royal power to at least 1,000 years ago, in a remarkable breakthrough that has been hailed as uncovering the "birth certificate of Scotland".
The critical dating evidence came from scientific analysis of carbon samples retrieved during excavations of a massive ditch that once surrounded the Moot Hill....
Read entire article at Scotsman
The ancient mound known as the Moot Hill in the ground of Scone Palace was once the site of the "lost" abbey of Scone, founded in 1114 by Alexander I, where Scottish kings are believed to have assumed the mantle of power on the Stone of Destiny.
It was revealed yesterday that archaeologists studying the historic site have been able to use radiocarbon dating to push back the origins of the ancient seat of ecclesiastical and royal power to at least 1,000 years ago, in a remarkable breakthrough that has been hailed as uncovering the "birth certificate of Scotland".
The critical dating evidence came from scientific analysis of carbon samples retrieved during excavations of a massive ditch that once surrounded the Moot Hill....