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Wemyss Caves, on the shore of the Firth of Forth, have been a famous landmark for centuries. Legend has it that they were occupied by the mysterious Picts who occupied north-east Scotland, to the north of Hadrian's wall; that they were home to medieval Christian hermits; and that they were used later by Jacobean nobles.
Now the caves are under serious threat from erosion: the sea is already lapping at the cliff just below the cave line.
But the caves have never been investigated. How did the enigmatic Pictish carvings on the cave wall get there? Were Picts really living in the caves or were they just passing by? Would there be any evidence of hermits or any type of medieval occupation?
In an intensive three days' excavation, Time Team came up with some remarkable findings, contributing to the task of writing the history of this atmospheric site before it is lost to the sea.
Time Trail
Time Team has been to Scotland on a number of occasions: to the Roman site at Drumlanrig (also screened in 2005); the 'lost city' of Roxburgh in the Scottish Borders (2004); the underwater crannog at Loch Migdale (2004); a Viking boat burial at Fetlar, Shetland (2003); a sunk Armada ship near Kinlochbervie (2002); and a mysterious underground chamber at Mine Howe, Orkney (Christmas 2000) among others.
The Team has also worked with county archaeologist Douglas Speirs in Fife before, excavating a Bronze-Age cemetery at Leven (2003) in advance of a housing development that would destroy the site forever.
This was the first time, however, that it had tackled a potential Pictish site. So who were the Picts? Find out more about this enigmatic people here and then try our Time Trial quiz to see how much you know about this mysterious period in Scottish history.
The Latin name Hibernia referred to where?
Scotland
Shetland
Ireland
What does the Pictish king-list tell us about the way the Picts chose their rulers?
They were elected
The line of descent was matrilineal
Brothers shared the throne
One of the tribes referred to in a Roman document from 310 AD is the Caledonii. Which of the following is a translation of the name from Latin?
The small ones
The tattooed ones
The hard ones
A hoard of silver items found at Norrie's Law, Fife, in the early 19th century included some jewellery engraved with Pictish symbols. What happened to most of the hoard?
It was melted down
It was bought by a US museum
It was reburied
A distinctive Pictish culture disappeared around the middle of the ninth century when who became king of both the Picts and Scots?
Kenneth Macalpin
William Wallace
Robert McGregor
What is the name of the ancient alphabet used in some Pictish carvings?
Futhark
Roman
Ogham
Answers here.
Cave carvings, dating to the Picts, are currently at risk from vandals and the sea on this protected site. Time Team worked in conjunction with Fife county archaeologist Douglas Speirs and Historic Scotland to find out more about who had been living and working in these caves. Douglas Speirs simultaneously undertook a laser scan survey of the cave walls to record the carvings and excavated a section of the eroding coastal path. This excavation revealed evidence for shell middens and a standing stone set into a negative feature.
Trenches in Jonathan's Cave revealed archaeological evidence for a family who worked iron and made square-headed nails here in the 18th century. Post holes in a further trench possibly indicated corralling of sheep, which is known to have taken place on this site from historical records. No evidence for earlier activity was discovered, despite the presence of Pictish carvings, and the deposits were very shallow.
Wells Cave offered the prospect of less disturbed deposits. Excavation uncovered an artificially modified stone depression in which water had collected. Wear on the edges was suggestive of repeated abrasion, perhaps by feet. Pottery associated with the feature was dated to the 14th century.
Trenches at the entrance of this cave uncovered medieval ridge and furrow and disturbed shell middens. Analysis of the soils and occupation debris outside the caves indicated activity dating back to the Late Mesolithic.
Excavation in Sloping Cave revealed a third wall carving, with a serpent design, and a flagged stone floor surface. An occupation layer of charcoal and animal bones overlaid the surface. Charred barley grains from this layer were C14 dated to 240-400 AD.
This, then, was a story of almost continual human activity since the creation of the caves as little as 10,000 years ago.
Mammoth task
To make a Time Team programme takes a crew of some 50 people or more. These include producers and directors, researchers and diggers, runners, specialists, conservators, three film crews and a presenter. All of these people, and the masses of associated equipment they bring with them, need to be coordinated to make sure they all arrive at the same place at the same time. This mammoth task of logistics and diplomacy is done by the production coordinator.
Time Team uses two coordinators, Jay Parsons and Zoe Korsner, who work on alternate programmes. Here Zoe Korsner talks about her job and working with Time Team.
After spending the last four years as a production coordinator in light entertainment television, Zoe decided to go for a programme that would get her more into the informative and educational side of TV. With a degree in geography, she wanted it to be something to do with the landscape. A contact in the business recommended her to Time Team and one month after her interview she started.
'Time Team is certainly different,' says Zoe. 'Obviously it's quite a change from a studio setting, but the actual programme content really keeps you on your toes. There's no rock solid script to run from; it all depends on what comes out of the ground.'
Back-up
A big aspect of Zoe's job is making sure that everything is available to make the programme run smoothly. This is not always an easy task when you're not sure what you're going to need. 'It's a bit of a juggling act,' she says. 'Firstly there are anything up to 70 people to get accommodated and make sure they all arrive at the same place. Then there's all of their equipment and the logistics of getting all the other gear together for the production from honey wagons to cranes. After that lot's done I've got to make sure that we have a host of specialists on call in the event of anything unexpected being found, and make sure I've got all my contacts sorted out for last-minute emergency requirements.'
Even as Zoe is interviewed, her mobile phone and comms headset don't stop calling for her: 'We need a big plasma TV for the incident room', 'Where can we park the skylift camera platform lorry?' and so on. Zoe smiles: 'There you go, I've got to find a large plasma TV monitor and we're currently in the middle of nowhere – another challenge.'
One big cake
'It's not that easy to pin down exactly what a co-ordinator does for a production because the role is so varied,' concludes Zoe. 'If anything, it's like one big cake. The crew, cast, diggers, specialists, equipment and back-up are all the ingredients and our job is to get the mix right.'
Hear Time Team coordinator Zoe Korsner talk about her job.
Ros Ereira, cameo producer.
This was a programme that had two cameos in the end, only one of which featured in the programme. The viewers saw Tim Blades making Pictish silverwork and we heard John Kenny play his carnyx – a replica of a war horn found in north-east Scotland around 1816 and dating from 100-300 AD. It wasn't easy to find Pictish cameos, as so little is known about the Picts, but having failed to find anyone who would let me tattoo them, I decided that we could try making a replica of one of the items in the Norrie's Law hoard – a hoard of Pictish silver found nearby in 1882.
This was especially interesting in terms of our site, because the little animal head at the bottom of the silver piece – a dog or otter, perhaps – matches a carving on the wall of one of the caves at Wemyss. Tim was able to show us how the silver would have been worked, as well as how the pieces were enamelled in red, picking out the beautiful designs etched into the surfaces.
The carnyx was a remarkable object. There was no way that we would have had time to make one of our own in the three days available, and unfortunately there wasn't time to feature it in the programme itself, but we were lucky enough to have John Kenny come along with his beautiful replica. The range of sounds it could produce was extraordinary – from trumpet to didgeridoo – and it looked like no instrument I have ever seen before. It was a real privilege to get the chance to hear this unique instrument being played at this beautiful site.
Tim Blades, silversmith.
In 1819, at Norrie's Law in Fife, a hoard of silver was found including some strange Pictish plaques made from silver and enamel. Time Team asked me to show how they could be made. They gave me two days, a cave to work in and a bit of help from the Team.
I brought some pieces of scrap silver, as the original silversmiths would have done, and set to work using the most basic furnace – made from two pairs of bellows and a clay-lined hollow in the ground. With Carenza working the bellows we had the silver molten and poured into a brick mould in about ten minutes.
The ingot was then ground smooth and hammered into a flat sheet. This took hours to do and was very noisy! The flattened ingot also came out a bit small, so we used another piece we'd brought along just in case. I cut it to shape and got Victor to engrave it. I am no engraver and Victor said he had not done any for 30 years. They must have had very good eyesight to do the detail.
We found a piece of red glass mosaic to grind to powder (they would have used robbed Roman glass tesserae) and got the charcoal furnace going again. It only took a few minutes to melt the enamel into the pattern.
Then, after a lot of polishing to make it shiny, we produced a fair copy, done with the most basic equipment.
John Kenny, carnyx player.
I always love talking about the carnyx, and meeting Time Team at Wemyss Caves was a memorable experience. Perhaps the most fun was trying to play the Blackadder theme on a 2,000-year-old Celtic war horn. This was definitely not for broadcast!
Originally our idea had been to attempt the reconstruction of a carnyx in or near this site. But to do that we would have needed more like three weeks, not three days! Instead, the carnyx I played for Time Team was one made by the artist John Creed, using techniques and materials as close as possible to the original. Since it was completed in 1993, the instrument has seen by thousands of visitors to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, as well as over 100 concerts and lectures in Europe and the USA.
The story of the discovery, identification, and eventual reconstruction of the carnyx is covered at length on John Kenny's Carnyx and Co website at: http://www.carnyx.musicscotland.com.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
The Picts and the Scots by Lloyd Laing and Jennifer Laing (Sutton, 2001) paperback £8.99
Who were the Picts and the Scots? For a long time the Picts were known almost entirely from their mysterious symbol stones, which generations of scholars have tried to interpret and date. This account presents the latest archaeological discoveries and discusses the evidence for the relationship between these two peoples, tracing their development from raids on Roman Britain to the formation of rival 'Dark Age' kingdoms that produced a unique artistic inheritance.
Picts, Gaels and Scots by Sally M Foster (B T Batsford, 2004) paperback £14.99
A fully updated and expanded edition of a classic text on early Scottish history. From the 5th to the 10th century, Scotland was home to a variety of diverse peoples and cultures, all competing for land and supremacy. At the heart of the mystery of how Scotland became a single unified country lies the extraordinary influence of the Picts and their neighbours, the Gaels, originally immigrants from Ireland. Sally Foster uses the latest archaeological discoveries and interpretations, as well as developments in historical, art-historical and place-name studies to explain how the Picts and Gaels became Scots and forged a nation.
The Art of the Picts: Sculpture and metalwork in early medieval Scotland by George Henderson and Isabel Henderson (Thames and Hudson, 2004) hardback £42
A sustained art-historical analysis of the work of the Picts. The only real traces of their society are stone cross slabs and some silverwork, all engraved with symbols.
The Picts and the Scots at War by Nick Aitchison (Sutton, 2003) paperback £20
Nick Aitchison illuminates all aspects of the mysterious world of the Picts in this book, including the nature of Pictish kingship and the aristocracy, warfare and everyday life. The shadowy world of Pictish religion and mythology, pagan and Christian, is also investigated. Illustrated with vivid scenes of Pictish sites and works of art, including their internationally famous sculptures.
A Wee Guide to the Picts by Duncan Jones (Wee Guides, 1998) paperback £3.95
The history of the Picts and a discussion of the symbols on their carved stones. Gazetteer features over 120 sites that can be visited.
Perceptions of the Picts: From Eumenius to John Buchan by Anna Ritchie (Groam House Museum Trust, Rosemarkie, 1994) can be obtained from Groam House Museum, High Street, Rosemarkie, IV10 8UF, price £4.50, including postage (UK only).
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Wemyss Caves Society
www.wemysscaves.co.uk
The society was formed in May 1986 to protect and save as much of the caves
and their unique drawings as possible. There are seven 'Open Sundays' from
April to September at 2-4.30pm in the basement suite of East Wemyss primary
school in the Wemyss Environmental Education Centre, a mini-museum. Full
details and further information about the caves is available on the
society's website.
The Picts: An introduction
www.holyrood.org.uk/picts
Good brief introduction to the Picts
Pictish Nation
http://members.tripod.com/~Halfmoon/index.html
Pictophile website with a broad range of material about all things Pictish.
Grave slabs and Pictish symbols of Scotland
www.darkisle.com/picts.html
Illustrated gazeteer of Pictish sites.
Pictish drawings
www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/7246/pictish.html
Several dozen drawings of Pictish carvings by Washington-based artist P Lennnox Campello, available as signed prints.
Tarbat Discovery Programme
www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/staff/sites/tarbat/
University of York website of a long-term project to research the Pictish, Norse and medieval site in which the church of St Colman stands at Portmahomack, in the Moray Firth.
The Latin name Hibernia referred to where?
Ireland
What does the Pictish king-list tell us about the way the Picts chose their rulers?
The line of descent was matrilineal
One of the tribes referred to in a Roman document from 310 AD is the Caledonii. Which of the following is a translation of the name from Latin?
The hard ones
A hoard of silver items found at Norrie's Law, Fife, in the early 19th century included some jewellery engraved with Pictish symbols. What happened to most of the hoard?
It was melted down
A distinctive Pictish culture disappeared around the middle of the ninth century when who became king of both the Picts and Scots?
Kenneth Macalpin
What is the name of the ancient alphabet used in some Pictish carvings?
Ogham