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VITRIFIED FORTS , the name given to certain See also:rude See also:- STONE
- STONE (0. Eng. shin; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Stein, Du. steen, Dan. and Swed. sten; the root is also seen in Gr. aria, pebble)
- STONE, CHARLES POMEROY (1824-1887)
- STONE, EDWARD JAMES (1831-1897)
- STONE, FRANK (1800-1859)
- STONE, GEORGE (1708—1764)
- STONE, LUCY [BLACKWELL] (1818-1893)
- STONE, MARCUS (184o— )
- STONE, NICHOLAS (1586-1647)
stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected in a greater or less degree to the See also:action of See also:fire. They are generally situated on hills offering strong defensive positions. Their See also:form seems to have been determined by the See also:contour of the See also:flat summits which they enclose. The walls vary in See also:size, a few being up-wards of 12 ft. high, and are so broad that they See also:present the See also:appearance of embankments. Weak parts of the See also:defence are strengthened by See also:double or triple walls, and occasionally vast lines of ramparts, composed of large blocks of unhewn and unvitrified stones, envelop the vitrified centre at some distance from it. No See also:lime or See also:cement has been found in any of these structures, all of them presenting the peculiarity of being more or less consolidated by the See also:fusion of the rocks of which they are built. This fusion, which has been caused by the application of intense See also:heat, is not equally See also:complete in the various forts, or even in the walls of the same fort. In some cases the stones are only partially melted and calcined; in others their adjoining edges are fused so that they are firmly cemented together; in many instances pieces of See also:rock are enveloped in a glassy See also:enamel-like coating which binds them into a See also:uniform whole; and at times, though rarely, the entire length of the See also:wall presents one solid See also:mass of vitreous substance.
Since See also:John See also:Williams—one of the earliest of See also:British geologists, and author of The See also:Mineral See also:Kingdom—first described these singular ruins in 1777, about fifty examples have been discovered in See also:Scotland. The most remarkable are Dun Mac Uisneachain (Dun Macsnoichan), the See also:ancient Beregonium, about 9 M. N.N.E. of See also:Oban; Tap o' Noth, in See also:Aberdeenshire; See also:Craig Phadraic, or Phadrick, near See also:Inverness; Dun Dhardhail (Dunjardil) in Glen See also:Nevis; Knockfarrail, near See also:Strathpeffer; Dun Creich, in See also:Sutherland; Finhaven, near Aberlemno; Barryhill, in See also:Perthshire; See also:Laws, near See also:Dundee; Dun See also:Gall and Burnt See also:Island, in Buteshire; Anwoth, in See also:Kirkcudbright; and Cowdenknowes, in See also:Berwickshire. Dun Mac Uisneachain is the largest in See also:area, being 250 yds. See also:long by 50 yds. broad. In the Tap o' Noth the walls are about 8 ft. high and between 20 and 30 ft. thick. In Dun Mac Uisneachain, Barryhill and Laws the remains of small rectangular dwellings have been found.
For a long See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time it was supposed that these forts were See also:peculiar to Scotland; but they are found also in See also:Londonderry and See also:Cavan, in See also:Ireland; in Upper See also:Lusatia, Bohemia, See also:Silesia, See also:Saxony and Thuringia; in the provinces on the See also:Rhine, especially in the neighbourhood of the See also:Nahe; in the Ucker See also:Lake, in See also:Brandenburg, where the walls are formed of burnt and smelted bricks; in See also:Hungary; and in several places in See also:France, such as Chateauvieux, Peran, La Courbe, Sainte Suzanne, See also:Puy de See also:Gaudy and Thauron. They have not been found in See also:England or See also:Wales.
In some See also:continental forts the vitrified walls are supported by masses of unvitrified stone built up on each See also:side.
End of Article: VITRIFIED FORTS
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