Caterthun, or the Caterthuns, is a ridge of hills near the city of

Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...

in Angus, Scotland. The Caterthuns are notable for being the site of two

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

forts known as the White Caterthun and the Brown Caterthun which are designated as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The White Caterthun, on the west, is dominated by an oval fort consisting of a massive

dry-stone wall Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...

, with a well or cistern in the middle. The light-coloured stone wall gives the White Caterthun its name. The photo shows part of the dry-stone wall on the summit of the White Caterthun: The Brown Caterthun, on the east, consists of a series of earthen embankments (hence the name 'brown'). There is little evidence of settlement, agriculture or water supply here, so the purpose of the earthworks is uncertain. Brown may be from the British word for hill (bron / bryn). Both Caterthuns show several entrances to the summit that radiate outwards, like the spokes on a wheel. The significance of these entrances, if any, is unknown, but they may have aligned with geographical features that no longer exist, such as other settlements. From radio-carbon dating, the Brown Caterthun appears to have been built and modified over several centuries in the latter half of the first millennium BC. Parts of the White Caterthun may have been contemporary with the Brown Caterthun, but it is believed that the main stone wall was built by the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from e ...

or their progenitors in the first few centuries AD.

References

Electric Scotland, Caterthuns
{{coord, 56, 47, 3, N, 2, 44, 27, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Mountains and hills of Angus, Scotland Iron Age sites in Scotland Hill forts in Scotland Archaeological sites in Angus, Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Angus