Editing Arbroath (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Pictish.stone.St.Vigeans.jpg|thumb|right|[[Drosten Stone]]]]
The area of Arbroath has been inhabited since at least the [[Neolithic period]]. Material from [[posthole]]s at an enclosure at Douglasmuir, near [[Friockheim]], some five miles north of Arbroath, have been [[radiocarbon date]]d to about 3500 BCE. The function of the enclosure is unknown – perhaps for agriculture or for ceremonial purposes.<ref name="Douglasmuir">{{Cite journal |last=Kendrick |first=J. |author2=Barclay, G. J. |author3=Cowie, T. G. |author4=Saville, A. |author5=Townshend, A. |author6=Braby, A. |date=1996 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_125/125_029_067.pdf |title=Excavation of a Neolithic enclosure and an Iron Age settlement at Douglasmuir, Angus |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |volume=125 |pages=29–67 |doi=10.9750/PSAS.125.29.67 |s2cid=53586923 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611100003/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_125/125_029_067.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2007}}</ref>

[[Bronze Age]] finds are abundant in the area. They include short-cist burials near West Newbigging, about a mile north of the town, which yielded pottery urns, a pair of silver discs and a gold armlet.<ref>[[Andrew Jervise|Jervise, A.]] (1863), [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_005/5_100_102.pdf Notice of stone cists and an urn, found near Arbroath, Forfarshire] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611232404/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_005/5_100_102.pdf |date=11 June 2007}}. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 5, pp. 100–102. ahds.ac.uk; Retrieved 11 December 2008.</ref> [[Iron Age]] archaeology is also present, for example in the [[souterrain]] near Warddykes Cemetery<ref>Watkins, T. and Barclay, G. (1978–1980) [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_110/110_165_208.pdf Excavation of a settlement and souterrain at Newmill, near Bankfoot, Perthshire] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611215131/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_110/110_165_208.pdf |date=11 June 2007}}, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland pp. 110 and 165–208. ahds.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2008.</ref> and at West Grange of Conan,<ref>A. Jervise, c. 1860 [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_004/4_492_499.pdf An account of the excavation of the round or "bee-hive" shaped house and other underground chambers, at West Grange of Conan, Forfarshire] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611154458/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_004/4_492_499.pdf |date=11 June 2007}}, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 4, 429–499. ahds.ac.uk; Retrieved 12 December 2008.</ref> as well as better-known examples at Carlungie and Ardestie.

The area appears to have had importance in the early Christian period, as shown by [[Picts|Pictish]] stone carvings found during restoration of [[St Vigeans]] Church, now housed in the small museum there. The stones had been used in building the old church and many were badly damaged. One of them, the 9th century [[Drosten Stone]], is among the few Pictish artefacts with a Latin inscription: DROSTEN: IREUORET [E]TTFOR CUS'. This has been variously construed, but is thought to refer to the Pictish King [[Uurad of the Picts|Uurad]], who reigned in 839–842 CE.<ref>T. O. Clancy, 2002, [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_123/123_345_353.pdf The Drosten Stone: A new reading] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611195910/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_123/123_345_353.pdf |date=11 June 2007}} Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 123, 345–353. ahds.ac.uk; Retrieved 11 December 2008.</ref>