article_snippet.sent: The fort, which was found on top of the Dunnicaer sea stack close to Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, appears to have been built with stone imported from elsewhere in the country.
article_snippet.sent: Ancient fort was discovered on top of Dunnicaer sea stack (shown above) and would have given the inhabitants a strong defensive position, although resupplying the fort up the cliff faces would have been hard .
article_snippet.sent: Dr Noble said it was possible the fort, which is thought to date from the 5th to 6th century, could also have been a precursor to Dunnottar Castle, a medieval fortress built on the rocks of a headland less than quarter of a mile away.
article_snippet.sent: The archaeologists discovered the fort on Dunnicaer after following up reports that Pictish stones had been found there when some local youths climbed up the sea stack.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Noble said there may have been a settlement built on the land behind the fort on Dunnicaer, although as the Picts largely built the Picts homes from wood, it would be hard to find many remains.
article_snippet.sent: The archaeologists found the remains of a stone wall that would have formed part of the fort on Dunnicaer .
article_snippet.sent: This stone hearth suggests the fort on Dunnicaer had been inhabited for relatively long periods, according to Dr Noble .
article_snippet.sent: Dr Noble said that at the time when the fort on Dunnicaer had been inhabited the fort on Dunnicaer may have had a wooden bridge across to the stack from the land otherwise the fort on Dunnicaer would have been very hard to access.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Noble said: ‘The stone is not local, so The stone was quarried elsewhere and taken to build the fort on Dunnicaer and carved.
article_snippet.sent: The Dunnicaer sea stack sits just off the east coast of Scotland close to Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire .
article_snippet.sent: Dunnicaer sea stack ( on the far left of the picture above) is just quarter of a mile from Dunnottar Castle (right)