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Were the Ancient Forts of Tap o’ Noth Built of Melted Rock?

By Karen Hill

Tap o’ Noth is a 1,850-foot hill near the village of Rhvnie in Scotland. On the flat top of this hill there once stood a fort, built by the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles. Scientists have been puzzled by the construction of this fort and many similar forts found in Scotland. For the walls of the fort appear to have been built of melted rock!

The remains of the fort walls are vitrified, melted and fused together to form a glass-like substance. Very high temperatures are needed to vitrify rock. How could the prehistoric builders of the fort have achieved such intense heat?

One common explanation is that the walls were originally built of both rocks and pieces of timber. The ancient Romans reported finding such forts in western Europe. Tests have shown that such walls, when set afire, sometimes produce heat intense enough to vitrify rock.

Were the ancient forts in Scotland burned down by invaders and consumed by flames that melted the rock walls? Or were these forts built in such a way that their walls could be intentionally burned and vitrified? If so, then the prehistoric builders of the fort at Tap o’ Noth knew more about construction than anyone has suspected.

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Filed Under: The World

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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