page_title: History of Edinburgh
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: History of Edinburgh / Origins
caption_attribution_description: A picture of the site of the Roman Fort at Cramond, Edinburgh, Scotland.
context_page_description: The area around modern-day Edinburgh has been inhabited for thousands of years. Its origins as a settlement can be traced to the early Middle Ages when a hillfort was established in the area, most likely on the Castle Rock. From the seventh to the tenth centuries it was part of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria, becoming thereafter a royal residence of the Scottish kings. The town that developed next to the stronghold was established by royal charter in the early 12th century, and by the middle of the 14th century was being described as the capital of Scotland. The area known as the New Town was added from the second half of the 18th century onwards. Edinburgh was Scotland's largest city until Glasgow outgrew it in the first two decades of the 19th century. Following Scottish devolution in the very late 20th century, Scotland's Parliament was established in Edinburgh.
context_section_description: The earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area is from Cramond where evidence has been found of a Mesolithic site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have been found on the Castle Rock, Arthur's Seat, Craiglockhart Hill and the Pentland Hills. The culture of these early inhabitants bears similarities with the Celtic cultures of the Iron Age found at Hallstatt and La Tene in central Europe. When the Romans arrived in the Lothian area towards the end of the 1st century AD, they discovered a Celtic Brythonic tribe whose name they recorded as the Votadini. The Romans established a fort at Cramond, within what later grew to be Edinburgh, which they connected to York with the Roman Road known as Dere Street.
  At some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, presumed descendants of the Votadini, built a hillfort known as Din Eidyn in the area of Eidyn, modern Edinburgh. Although the exact location of the hillfort has not been identified, it seems more than likely they would have chosen the commanding position of the Castle Rock, or Arthur's Seat or the Calton Hill. During the time of the Gododdin, the territory of Lothian came into existence, with Edinburgh as its main stronghold.  Around the year 600, Welsh tradition records that Mynyddog Mwynfawr, the Brythonic ruler of the kingdom of Gododdin, assembled a force within the vicinity of Edinburgh to oppose Germanic settlers to the south. This force was decisively defeated by the Angles at the Battle of Catraeth (probably at Catterick).
caption: The site of the Roman fort at Cramond.
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