A stone bearing a sixth-century inscription resembling the name Arthur has been unearthed at Tintagel Castle, the reputed birthplace of the legendary king of the Round Table, English Heritage said yesterday.
The stone, which archaeologists called "a find of a lifetime," could be a new link between the Arthurian legend and Tintagel, once an ancient military base. All that remains of the castle today are its ruins, high on the windswept coast of Cornwall.
The stone measures 14 inches by 20 inches and bears the Latin inscription "Artognov."
It was discover [sic] July 4 as archaeologists did further digging at the site of excavations carried out in the 1930s, said Kevin Brady of the University of Glasgow, which carried out the dig for English Heritage.
While there is no evidence linking the stone directly with King Arthur, it does prove the name existed around the time the storybook hero is said to have lived, Brady said.
"It is certainly exciting that the name on the stone corresponds to the legend," Brady said. "But it is just not possible to link the two from this evidence."
The excavation also shows that after the Romans left England in 410, some sort of royal or high-ranking official headquarters existed at Tintagel and that people there maintained contact with the Roman Empire, Brady said.
"There is no doubt it was a place of great importance," he said.
While archaeologists hope the stone will fill some of the gaps in Tintagel's history, devotees of Arthur's legend hope it will lead to proof that he really existed.
If Arthur did exist, he lived in the sixth century, said English Heritage. The first connection between Arthur and Tintagel Castle was made by a Welsh author in the 12th century.
According to one story, Merlin the Magician disguised Arthur's father to allow him to enter Tintagel and seduce a duke's young wife, Arthur's mother. In another version, Arthur was found washed ashore by Merlin in a cave below the castle.
