Editing Perth, Scotland (section)

==Etymology==

The name ''Perth'' derives from a [[Pictish language|Pictish]] word for 'wood' or 'copse', related to the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|perth}}, meaning 'hedge' or 'thicket'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mills |first1=David |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names |date=20 Oct 2011 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-960908-6 |page=366 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ |access-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022153303/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&dq |archive-date=22 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> During much of the later medieval period, it was known colloquially by its Scots-speaking inhabitants as ''St John's Toun'' or ''Saint Johnstoun'' because the church at the centre of the parish was dedicated to St [[John the Baptist]].<ref name="Graham-Campbell pp1–2">{{cite book |last=Graham-Campbell |first=David |date=1994 |title=Perth: The Fair City |pages=1–2 |publisher=John Donald }}</ref> Perth was referred to as ''St John's ton'' up until the mid-1600s with the name ''Perthia'' being reserved for the wider area.<ref name="Jansson">{{Cite map |publisher=Jansson, 1659 |title=Scotiae provintiae inter Taum Fluvium, et Septentrionales oras Angliae. |url=http://maps.nls.uk/scotland/detail.cfm?id=140 |cartography=Jan Jansson |access-date=1 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523184716/http://maps.nls.uk/scotland/detail.cfm?id=140 |archive-date=23 May 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> At this time, ''Perthia'' became ''Perth Shyre'' and ''St John's ton'' became known as ''Perth''.<ref name="Jansson" />

Perth's Pictish name, and some archaeological evidence, indicate that there must have been a settlement here from earlier times, probably at a point where a river crossing or crossings coincided with a slightly raised natural mound on the west bank of the Tay (which at Perth flows north–south), thus giving some protection for settlement from the frequent flooding.<ref name="Graham-Campbell pp1–2" /> Finds in and around Perth show that it was occupied by the [[Mesolithic]] [[hunter-gatherer]]s who arrived in the area more than 8,000 years ago. Nearby [[Neolithic]] standing stones and circles followed the introduction of farming from about 4,000 [[Anno Domini|BC]], and a remarkably well preserved [[Bronze Age]] [[canoe|log boat]] dated to around 1,000 BC was found in the [[mudflats]] of the River Tay at [[Carpow]] to the east of Perth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-17 |title=Carpow Logboat – PKHT |url=https://www.pkht.org.uk/projects/carpow-logboat/ |access-date=2022-05-07 |language=en-GB}}</ref>