AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL discovery in Dingwall could put the town on the international map and bring major benefits to Ross and Cromarty, experts claimed this week.
Geophysical surveys of the Cromartie car park in Dingwall town centre have revealed that it most likely is the site of the long lost meeting place of the Vikings who once ruled Ross.
The Highland Council-owned car park was closed to the public for two days last month to see if archaeologists could produce the hard evidence to back up beliefs that it was an important Viking assembly area around 1,000 years ago.
And this week, following analysis of the data, Scotland's leading authority on early legal meeting places, Oliver O'Grady, says he is convinced the mound-shaped car park site is of Viking origin and of international importance.
Now Mr O'Grady and leading local historian David MacDonald, chairman of Dingwall Historical Society who carried out the vital research in Edinburgh, are collaborating to bring Dingwall's Viking heritage out of obscurity.
Plans have been mooted to convert the disused public conveniences beside the car park into a Viking-themed heritage hub which could provided much-needed information about Dingwall's Norse heritage.
And Mr O'Grady has questioned whether a car park is an appropriate use for a site of such significance.
"We are now realising just how important Dingwall's Viking heritage is," he said, "and as this site used to be at the very centre of that Viking past you have to ask whether a car park is the most appropriate use for it.
"The car park was surveyed in September and in my archaeological opinion we got the strongest signal you can get from this kind of feature.
"We identified a number of ditches from radar and you get to know the signals. It can only be ascertained for definite by excavation but that will need to be discussed with the council."
Perth-based Mr O'Grady added: "I think the Dingwall site has the potential of being one of the key Viking areas of attraction.
"Archaeology can be a real positive conduit for tourism, education and business. In these hard economic times, Dingwall's Viking heritage could provide a unique opportunity for the town locally, nationally - and internationally."
Experts have long believed that the name Dingwall derives from two ancient Norse words "ping" and "vllr" meaning "field of the assembly", as in a legal gathering or law court.
The name is believed to have been coined by Viking invaders who settled in Northern Scotland around the ninth century AD, but exactly where Dingwall's Viking law-court actually met had long eluded archaeologists - until now.
David "DD" MacDonald, a former Dingwall Academy deputy rector, carried out extensive historical research in Edinburgh where he was able to study newly rediscovered medieval documents.
He said: "These refer specifically to the mound, which is now the subject of investigations. The manuscripts indicate that the court-mound survived into the later medieval period whilst undergoing a chance of name to Moothill, a Scots name meaning 'hill of assembly'. In parallel to the society's findings, Dr O'Grady has now reached the same conclusion, that Dingwall's Viking court-mound or 'thing' was beneath the Cromartie car park."
Dingwall and Seaforth Highland Councillor Angela MacLean said: "Mr O'Grady and the Dingwall History Society's results couldn't have come at a better time. It shows just what fantastic archaeology Dingwall has to offer and the result could be crucial in promoting public understanding and enjoyment of the town's important Viking story."
Fellow Councillor Margaret Paterson agreed: "This is a very exciting discovery for Dingwall. In future we could be relying on tourism more than ever and having a 'thing' court mound in our midst could be tremendous, not just for Dingwall but for the wider area."?
