A CAR park in a Highland town has been confirmed by archaeologists as the meeting place of a medieval Norse parliament. 
 
 Excavations at the Cromartie Memorial car park in Dingwall uncovered evidence of a mound that archaeologists believe was established in the 11th century as a gathering spot for a Viking parliament, known as a “Thing”. 
 
 Picture: Contributed 
 
 When it was constructed the “Thing” would have been on a man-made islet in the estuary of the River Pefferey, historians claimed. They believe the mound was built on the instructions of Thorfinn the Mighty, a powerful Viking earl who died in 1065. 
 
 He is thought to have laid the foundations of what would later become the royal burgh of Dingwall in Ross-shire. 
 
 It is only the second time a “Thing” site has been uncovered in the UK. Yesterday historians said the discovery would help them learn more about the Norse Vikings, who battled for control of land across the north of Scotland. 
 
 David MacDonald, of Dingwall History Society, which was part of the dig partnership, said that a road, a ditch and an aqueduct, known as the Water of Dyke, that drew water from hillside springs, were also constructed when Thorfinn was in control of Ross-shire. 
 
 He said Thorfinn’s rise to power was aided by his victory in a battle at Torfnes on the south side of the Cromarty Firth, possibly against MacBeth’s troops. At the height of his power, Thorfinn became Lord of Caithness, Shetland and Orkney. 
 
 The origins of the town of Dingwall as a Viking Thing-site had long puzzled historians and archaeologists alike, with many believing it was elsewhere on the Black Isle in Ross-shire. 
 
 But now the results of the archaeological dig, the culmination of Highland Council’s participation as a partner in the EU Northern Periphery International Thing Project, has come up with real answers. 
 
 Mr MacDonald said: “You can call this the official confirmation of the car park being the location of a ‘Thing’. 
 
 “It has been very exciting over the years, but all the historical research points in this direction.” 
 
 In recent times historical investigation identified the Cromartie car park – which contains the burial place and memorial monument of George, first earl of Cromartie, who died in 1714 – as the site of the long lost Moothill of Dingwall, the town’s medieval meeting place. This has now been confirmed as deriving from the Viking Thing-mound. 
 
 A trial trench excavation in the car park in 2012 showed significant radio-carbon datings. 
 
 According to archaeologist Dr Oliver O’Grady, a leading authority on the assembly mounds of Scotland, who was part of the dig : “The excavations have confirmed the presence of important archaeological remains and indicated that the mound was man-made and probably created during the 11th century. 
 
 “The radio-carbon datings provide strong scientific evidence to support the interpretation that the mound was created during the period of late Norwegian political influence in Ross-shire and wider North-east Scotland. 
 
 “The lack of substantial occupation remains or burial activity is also further circumstantial evidence that the mound was created for an assembly site or Thing. 
 
 “The substantial manpower and effort required to create a monument on the scale of the Dingwall mound would also seem in keeping with the establishment of a major regional judicial and administrative centre.” 
 
 Dingwall, which lies at the head of the Cromarty Firth, is a location on a European tourist trail of Thing sites. Funded by the EU, the Thing Sites GeoTour involves Scotland, Norway, Iceland, the Faroes and Isle of Man. ||||| A parking lot in Scotland was once the site of a Viking parliament, new research suggests 
 
 A Viking parliamentary site that dates to the 11th century has been found beneath a parking lot in Scotland. 
 
 The site, located in the town of Dingwall, Scotland, was dubbed a "Thing" site, referring to its name in antiquity. Like other Thing sites, this one was likely a place where ancient Norsemen gathered to settle legal disputes, uphold laws and make key political decisions. 
 
 "It's a fantastic find, really," said Oliver J. T. O'Grady, the director of the site's excavations and an archaeologist who runs an archaeological consulting firm called OJT Heritage. "No one's had dating [information] from a Thing site in Scotland." 
 
 The Thing 
 
 Historians had long wondered whether Dingwall was a site of a Viking parliamentary gathering known as the Thing because the word Dingwall probably originated from the word thingvellir, which means "the field of the assembly." [Fierce Fighters: 7 Secrets of Viking Culture] 
 
 Such Thing sites are scattered from Iceland to Norway to the Shetland Islands, and Norsemen traveled from far and wide to get to the seasonal gatherings, often to settle disputes that would otherwise end in bloodshed. But Things were held mostly at open-air fields, and people only stayed temporarily, leaving relatively few archaeological traces of their presence. 
 
 "Many archaeologists have said, 'How do you find the archaeology of a bunch of people gathering together?'" O'Grady told LiveScience. 
 
 O'Grady and his colleagues at The Thing Project, which works on similar sites around Europe, were not deterred, because traces of temporary dwelling booths had turned up at other Thing sites. 
 
 Digging up democracy 
 
 Using historical records, the team found a mound near the inlet of an estuary in Dingwall that was called the moothill, or assembly mound, in the 13th century. Later on, Scottish earls were buried there. In 1947, local authorities bulldozed the top of the mound and turned the area into a parking lot. (Parking lots seem to be rich sources of history in the U.K. — Richard III's skeleton was found underneath a parking lot, as was a medieval knight in Scotland.) 
 
 The team dug a small trench across the mound and used radioactive carbon isotopes, or atoms of carbon with different molecular weights, to date the charcoal found in the soil. (These radioactive isotopes decay at different rates and can be used to date soils and objects.) 
 
 The team found that some of the upper layers of the soil date to the medieval period, likely when it was called the moothill, and contain shards of pottery and fragments of an iron vessel. 
 
 A site in Dingwall, Scotland, revealed traces of a 13th century iron vessel underneath a parking lot. Credit: Dr. Oliver J. T. O'Grady 
 
 But below that, the team found the first layers that were used to construct the mound, with soil dating to around the 11th century. 
 
 By this period of history, the Vikings were no longer feared marauders sailing the seas and raiding Europe. Instead, the people who gathered at Dingwall were more likely subjects of Norse kings who ruled from the Orkney and Shetland Islands. 
 
 No one knows yet who built the site, though the sheer size of the mound suggests it was a fairly significant undertaking that required a lot of political power and resources. 
 
 No historical documents mention a Thing gathering site near the region, but Earl Thorfinn the Mighty came down from the Orkney Islands at the time and fought a battle in the general region. 
 
 "He would certainly have had a political reason to make a statement," O'Grady said. 
 
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– Archaeologists have uncovered another parking lot find, only this time it's in Scotland, and what they discovered is best described as a "Thing." Yep, that's the technical term for a Viking parliamentary gathering site, one of which has been unearthed in the town of Dingwall. That name had long clued archaeologists into the potential for such a find: Dingwall is likely derived from the word thingvellir, or "the field of the assembly," LiveScience reports. But finding a "Thing" site is no small task, in part because the gatherings usually occurred in open fields, and the temporary nature of them meant only modest traces of human life were left behind. Indeed, this is only the second "Thing" found in the UK, the Scotsman reports. It was uncovered after the team used historical records to identify a mound that had once been called the "assembly mound"; a parking lot now covers it. Excavations "indicated that the mound was man-made," likely in the 11th century, says site director Oliver JT O'Grady, and "radio-carbon datings provide strong scientific evidence to support the interpretation that the mound was created during the period of late Norwegian political influence in Ross-shire and wider." He and his team aren't exactly sure who built the site, but based on its size, that creator would have needed both "political power and resources," explains LiveScience. One guess: Thorfinn the Mighty, who fought a battle in the area around that time. (In less positive Viking news, ancient jewels were stolen this week.)