Editing Edinburgh Castle (section)

===Pre-history of the Castle Rock===
====Geology====

{{Main|Castle Rock, Edinburgh}}

[[File:Crag and tail.png|thumb|Diagram of a crag and tail feature, such as the Castle Rock: '''A''' is the crag formed from the volcanic plug, '''B''' is the tail of softer rock, and '''C''' shows the direction of ice movement. In the case of Edinburgh, the castle stands on the crag ('''A''') with the Royal Mile extending along the tail ('''B''')]]

The castle stands upon the [[Volcanic plug|plug]] of an [[extinct volcano]], which is estimated to have risen about 350 million years ago during the lower [[Carboniferous]] period. The Castle Rock is the remains of a [[volcanic pipe]], which cut through the surrounding [[sedimentary rock]] before cooling to form very hard [[dolerite]], a type of [[basalt]]. Subsequent [[glaciology|glacial erosion]] was resisted by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a [[crag and tail]] formation.<ref>McAdam, p. 16.</ref>

The summit of the Castle Rock is {{convert|130|m|ft}} above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west, and north, rising to a height of {{convert|80|m|ft}} above the surrounding landscape.<ref>MacIvor (1993), p. 16.</ref> This means that the only readily accessible route to the castle lies to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently. The defensive advantage of such a site is self-evident, but the geology of the rock also presents difficulties, since basalt is extremely impermeable. Providing water to the Upper Ward of the castle was problematic, and despite the sinking of a {{convert|34|m|adj=on}} deep well, the water supply often ran out during drought or siege,<ref>Dunbar, p. 192.</ref> including during the Lang Siege in 1573.<ref name=Potter137/>

==== Earliest habitation ====
{{see also|Prehistoric Scotland|Castle of Maidens}}

[[File:Edinburgh Castle from Grass Market.jpg|thumb|left|The castle is built on a volcanic rock, as seen here in a 19th-century view from the [[Grassmarket]] area]]

An archaeological investigation has yet to establish when the Castle Rock was first used for human habitation. There is no record of any Roman interest in the location during [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|General Agricola]]'s invasion of northern Britain near the end of the 1st century AD. [[Ptolemy]]'s map of the 2nd century AD<ref>Harris, p. 11.</ref> shows a settlement in the territory of the [[Votadini]] named "Alauna", meaning "rock place", making this possibly the earliest known name for the Castle Rock.<ref>Moffat, pp. 268–270.</ref> This could, however, refer to another of the tribe's hill forts in the area. The ''Orygynale Cronykil'' of [[Andrew of Wyntoun]] (c. 1350 – c. 1423), an early source for [[Scottish history]], names "Ebrawce" ([[Ebraucus]]), a [[List of legendary kings of Britain|legendary King of the Britons]], as having "byggyd [built] Edynburgh".<ref>Andrew of Wyntoun, ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'', quoted in Masson, p. 1.</ref> According to the earlier chronicler, [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] (c. 1100 – c. 1155), Ebraucus had fifty children by his twenty wives, and was the founder of "Kaerebrauc" ([[York]]), "Alclud" ([[Dumbarton]]) and the "Maidens' Castle".<ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 78–79.</ref> The 16th-century English writer [[John Stow]] (c. 1525 – 1605), credited Ebraucus with building "the Castell of Maidens called Edenbrough" in 989 BC.<ref>Stow, John, ''Generale Chronicle of England'', quoted in Masson, p. 1.</ref> The name "Maidens' Castle" ({{langx|la|Castra}} or ''{{lang|la|Castellum Puellarum}}'') occurs frequently up until the 16th century.<ref>Potter, p. 12.</ref> It appears in charters of [[David I of Scotland|David I]] (r. 1124–1153) and his successors in the [[Kingdom of Scotland]],<ref>Wilson (1887), p. 298.</ref> although the reason for it is not known. [[William Camden]]'s survey of Britain, ''Britannia'' (1607), records that "the Britans called [it] Castle Myned Agned [winged rock], the Scots, the Maidens Castle and the Virgins Castle, of certaine young maidens of the Picts roiall bloud who were kept there in old time".<ref>{{cite book |author=Camden, William |author-link=William Camden |year=1607 |others=trans. [[Philemon Holland]] |url=http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/scoteng.html#loth4 |chapter=Lauden or Lothien |title=Britannia |access-date=23 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407080045/http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/scoteng.html#loth4 |archive-date=7 April 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the 17th-century antiquarian Father Richard Hay, the "maidens" were a group of nuns, who were ejected from the castle and replaced by [[Canon (priest)|canons]], considered "fitter to live among soldiers".<ref>Halkerston, pp. 8–9: Gillies, p. 3.</ref> However, this story was considered "apocryphal" by the 19th-century antiquarian [[Daniel Wilson (academic)|Daniel Wilson]] and has been ignored by historians since.<ref>Wilson claimed that Father Hay had "no better authority for this nunnery than the misleading name castellum Puellarum". Wilson (1891), vol. 1, p. 4, note 4.</ref> The name may have been derived from a "Cult of the Nine Maidens" type of legend. [[Arthurian legend]]s suggest that the site once held a shrine to [[Morgan le Fay|Morgain la Fee]], one of nine sisters.<ref>McKean (1991), p. 1.</ref> Later, St Monenna, said to be one of nine companions, reputedly invested a church at Edinburgh, as well as at Dumbarton and other places.<ref>Grant (c. 1890), p. 15: McHardy, pp. 13–20.</ref> [[Maiden Castle (disambiguation)|Similar names]] are shared by many other [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] [[oppidum|hillforts]] and may have simply described a castle that had never been taken by force<ref>Potter, p. 141.</ref> or derived from an earlier [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] name like ''mag dun''.<ref>[[Patrick Chalmers (MP)|Chalmers]], cited in Chambers, pp. 35–36.</ref><ref>Macritchie.</ref>

[[File:Edinburgh Castle from the North.JPG|thumb|The Castle seen from the North]]

An archaeological excavation in the early 1990s uncovered evidence of the site having been settled during the late [[Bronze Age]] or early [[Iron Age]], potentially making Castle Rock the longest continuously occupied site in Scotland.<ref>The claim is advanced by {{harvtxt|Driscoll|Yeoman|1997|p=2}} Driscoll & Yeoman, p. 2, although a similar claim is made for other sites including [[Dumbarton Rock]] and [[Kilmartin Glen]].</ref> However, the extent of the finds was not particularly significant and insufficient to draw any certain conclusions about the precise nature or scale of this earliest known phase of occupation.<ref>Driscoll & Yeoman, p. 220.</ref>

The archaeological evidence is more reliable concerning the Iron Age. Traditionally, it had been supposed that the [[Scottish people|tribes]] of central Scotland had made little or no use of the Castle Rock. Excavations at nearby [[Arthur's Seat|Dunsapie Hill]], [[Duddingston]], [[Inveresk]] and [[Traprain Law]] had revealed relatively large settlements and it was supposed that these sites had been chosen in preference to the Castle Rock. However, the excavation in the 1990s pointed to the probable existence of an enclosed [[hillfort]] on the rock, although only the fringes of the site were excavated. House fragments revealed were similar to Iron Age dwellings previously found in Northumbria.<ref>Driscoll & Yeoman, pp. 222–223.</ref>

The 1990s dig revealed clear signs of habitation from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, consistent with [[Ptolemy]]'s reference to "Alauna". Signs of occupation included some [[Roman Britain|Roman]] material, including pottery, bronzes and brooches, implying a possible trading relationship between the Votadini and the Romans beginning with [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola's]] northern campaign in AD 82, and continuing through to the establishment of the [[Antonine Wall]] around AD 140. The nature of the settlement in this period is inconclusive, but Driscoll and Yeoman suggest it may have been a [[broch]], similar to the one at [[Edin's Hall Broch|Edin's Hall]] near [[Duns, Scottish Borders|Duns]] in the [[Scottish Borders]].<ref>Driscoll & Yeoman, p. 226.</ref>