Birnie is an archaeological site in the north-east of Scotland, near in Elgin in Moray. It shows signs of Celtic and Pictish occupation, as well as evidence of substantial interaction between the Celts and the Romans for as long as two centuries.
Major excavations at the site began in 1998 and have been ongoing for over ten years. Various Roman coins had been found scattered across Birnie prior to that point; it was only then that a large horde of Roman coins were found buried in a trench at the site, and the ancient importance of the settlement began to become clear. A second horde of coins was found buried nearby in 2001. Both are thought to have been given to the rulers of Birnie by the Romans (in rare ventures so far north beyond the frontier of Hadrian’s Wall) as a bribe to keep them pacified.
Clearly Birnie was a major centre of power in Celtic and, later, Pictish Scotland. Other major finds at the site have included glass beads, a dagger and quern stones for making flour, as well as a metal horse harness from a Roman chariot. The remains of roundhouses have also been excavated.
