Editing Edinburgh Castle (section)

=== Early Middle Ages ===
[[File:Yr.Hen.Ogledd.550.650.Koch.jpg|thumb|upright|Map of northern Britain showing the Gododdin and other tribes c.600 AD]]

The castle does not re-appear in contemporary historical records from the time of Ptolemy until around AD 600. Then, in the epic [[Old Welsh|Welsh]] poem ''[[Y Gododdin]]'' there is a reference to Din Eidyn, "the stronghold of [[Eidyn]]". This has been generally assumed to refer to the Castle Rock.<ref>MacQuarrie, pp. 29–30.</ref> The poem tells of the [[Gododdin]] King [[Mynyddog Mwynfawr]],<ref>It has been suggested that this is not a proper name of a ruler at all, but rather adjectives used to refer to the warband as a whole. For further discussion cf. {{cite journal |author=Koch, John |title=Thoughts on the Ur-Goddodin |journal=[[Language Sciences]] |volume=15 |year=1993 |page=81 |doi=10.1016/0388-0001(93)90019-O |issue=2}} and {{cite journal |author=Isaac, Graham |title=Mynyddog Mwynfawr |journal=[[Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies]] |volume=37 |year=1990 |page=111 }}</ref> and his band of warriors, who, after a year of feasting in their fortress, set out to do battle with the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] at "Catreath" (possibly [[Catterick, North Yorkshire|Catterick]]) in Yorkshire. Despite performing glorious deeds of valour and bravery, the poem relates that the Gododdin were massacred.<ref>MacIvor, p. 23.</ref>

The [[Irish annals]] record that in 638, after the events related in ''Y Gododdin'', "Etin" was besieged by the Angles under [[Oswald of Northumbria]], and the Gododdin were defeated.<ref>MacQuarrie, p. 37.</ref> The territory around Edinburgh then became part of the [[Northumbria|Kingdom of Northumbria]], which was itself absorbed by [[Kingdom of England|England]] in the 10th century. Lothian became part of Scotland, during the reign of [[Indulf of Scotland|Indulf]] (r.954–962).<ref>Lynch, p. 46.</ref>

The archaeological evidence for the period in question is based entirely on the analysis of [[midden]]s (domestic refuse heaps), with no evidence of structures. Few conclusions can therefore be derived about the status of the settlement during this period, although the midden deposits show no clear break since Roman times.<ref name=DY227>Driscoll & Yeoman, p. 227.</ref>