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Metalwork dating back to Pictish times found in Perthshire is said to be of “huge importance” to the history of the region.

The substance, along with a number of rounded stones and walls, was discovered by archaeologists while excavating the King’s Seat hillfort in Dunkeld.

And now experts say this could be evidence the area was a seat for elite ruling during the early medieval period.

During the digging work earlier this year, Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust and Dunkeld and Birnam Historical Society were joined by volunteers and school pupils to explore the trenches and find out more about the site.

Among the exciting finds included metalworking waste, crucible fragments and stone moulds, which the trust says indicates precious metalworking took place on the site.

Gavin Lindsay, an outreach officer with the heritage trust, said: “One of the reasons we’re so excited about these moulds is that their shape is characteristic of metalworking in the early historic or Pictish period (600-900AD).

“So, while we wait for the radio carbon dates to come back from the lab, finds like these can help us work out when the activity at King’s Seat was taking place.”

A number of small rounded stones were also discovered near the summit, which were probably collected and used with slingshots, and a number of walls and large stone boulders suggest the site

had many different phases of historical activity.

The upper area of the site was found clear of soil with “interesting” features cut into the rock, which one expert says could indicate the site was a ruling seat of power during Pictish times.

Cath MacIver, from AOC Archaeology, explained: “Comparisons can be drawn between the hole drilled into the rock on King’s Seat and St Fillan’s Chair on Dundurn near Loch Earn, where a wide ledge was sculpted from an outcrop to form a sort of rock seat.

“The lead archaeologist working on Dundurn theorised that this ‘seat’ could have been an inauguration seat for the rulers of Strathearn. The features at King’s Seat could have served a similar purpose.”

Andy Heald, also from AOC Archaeology, said: “Considered together, the material culture recovered from King’s Seat is hugely important and clearly indicates in situ activity on the site.

“While it seems obvious to the modern archaeologist that some sort of elite would have controlled, if not occupied hillfort sites, it is still rare for such sites to produce such a wealth of evidence.”

He continued: “The fact that evidence for metal working was identified in every trench certainly suggests that the site was hugely important for the production of prestige metalwork and, similarly to important high status early hillforts such as Dunadd [in Argyll] and Dundurn, may have been a centre of production.

“Dundurn. Dunadd and King’s Seat all share similar characteristics including topographic location, working and utilisation of exposed bedrock outcrops.”

Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust is planning to return to the hillfort in 2018 with guided walks planned, and are looking for more volunteers to join their excavation projects.