cited as evidence for the Battle of Barry (now known to be historically inauthentic), and there are a number of other possible interpretations for the carving. Dunachton In a paper published in 2006, historian Alex Woolf gives a number of reasons for doubting Dunnichen as the battle site, most notably the absence of "inaccessible mountains" in mid-Angus. He makes a case for an alternative site at Dunachton in Badenoch (), on the north-western shore of Loch Insh, which shares Dunnichen's toponymical origin of Dún Nechtain. James Fraser of Edinburgh University suggests that, while it is too early to discount Dunnichen as a potential battle site, locating it there requires an amount of "special pleading" that Dunachton does not need. Aftermath Ecgfrith's defeat at Dun Nechtain devastated Northumbria's power and influence in the North of Britain. Bede recounts that the Picts recovered their lands that had been held by the Northumbrians and Dál Riatan Scots. He goes on to tell how the Northumbrians who did not flee the Pictish territory were killed or enslaved. The Northumbrian/Roman diocese of the Picts was abandoned, with Trumwine and his monks fleeing to Whitby, stalling Roman Catholic expansion in Scotland. While further battles between the Northumbrians and Picts are recorded, for example in 697 when Beornhæth's son Berhtred was killed, the Battle of Dunnichen marks the point in which Pictish independence from Northumbria was permanently secured. Notes References External links Dunnichen Moss as it is now The monument at Dunnichen Loch Insh. Dunachton is to the left of the picture Mountains to south of Loch Insh 680s conflicts 685 7th century in Scotland Battles involving Northumbria Battles involving the Picts History of Angus, Scotland