Pictish stones

The Dunnichen Stone.

Pictish stones are monumental stelae found in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line. These stones are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts and are thought to date from the 6th to 9th centuries, a period during which the Picts became Christianized. The earlier stones have few surviving parallels from the rest of the British Isles, but the later forms are variations within a wider Insular tradition of monumental stones such as high crosses.

Purpose and meaning

The Class II Kirkyard stone c800AD, Aberlemno

The purpose and meaning of the stones are only slightly understood. The stones may have served as personal memorials, with symbols for clans, lineages or kindreds or are religious in nature. A small number of pictish stones have been found associated with burials, but most are not in their original locations. The stones may also have marked tribal or lineage territories.

The exact number of distinct pictish symbols is not known as there is some debate as to what constitutes a pictish symbol. The more inclusive estimates are in excess of sixty different symbols, but the true number is more likely to be around thirty. These include abstract symbols which have been assigned arbitrary descriptive names by researchers (such as crescent and V-rod, double disc and Z-rod) or outline pictures of animals (such as the adder, salmon, wolf, stag, eagle and the mythical Pictish Beast). There are also representations of everyday objects such as the mirror and comb, which could have been used by high-status males. The symbols are almost always arranged in pairs or sets of pairs, sometimes with the mirror and comb below, hence the thinking they could represent lineage or kindred (such as two parents/clans). According to Anthony Jackson the symbol pairs represent matrilineal marriage alliances.

The symbols may rarely be found on jewelry, such as silver plaques from the Norrie's Law hoard found in Fife in the early 19th century, and the Whitecleuch Chain. However, very little Pictish metalwork has survived in comparison to neighbouring cultures. The symbols are also sometimes found on other movable objects like small stone discs and bones mostly from the Northern Isles. Simple or early forms of the symbols are carved on the walls of coastal caves at East Wemyss, Fife and Covesea, Moray.

A team from Exeter University, using mathematical analysis, have concluded that the symbols in the Pictish image stones "exhibit the characteristics of written languages" (as opposed to "random or sematographic (heraldic) characters"). This claim has been criticized by linguists Mark Liberman and Richard Sproat on the grounds that the non-uniform distribution of symbols - taken to be evidence of writing - is little different from non-linguistic non-uniform distributions (such as die rolls), and that the Exeter team are using a definition of writing broader than that used by linguists. To date, even those who propose that the symbols should be considered "writing" from this mathematical approach do not have a suggested decipherment. However, earlier studies based on a contextual approach drawing on the identification of the pagan pre-Christian Celtic Cult of the Archer Guardian have been able to suggest possible clausal meanings for symbol pairs.

Classification

In The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (1903) J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson first classified Pictish stones into three groups. Critics have noted weaknesses in this system but it is widely known and still used in the field.

• Class 1 — unworked stones with symbols only incised. There is no cross on either side. Class 1 stones date back to the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries.
• Class 2 — stones of more or less rectangular shape with a large cross and symbol(s) on one or both sides. The symbols, as well as Christian motifs, are carved in relief and the cross with its surroundings is filled with designs. Class 2 stones date from the 8th and 9th centuries.
• Class 3 — these stones feature no idiomatic Pictish symbols. The stones can be cross-slabs, recumbent gravemarkers, free-standing crosses, and composite stone shrines. They originate in the 8th or 9th century.

Sites

Only a few stones still stand at their original sites; most have been moved to museums or other protected sites. Some of the more notable individual examples and collections are listed below (Note that listing is no guarantee of unrestricted access, since some lie on private land).

Class I

The Class I Strathpeffer Eagle Stone

• Aberlemno 1 (The serpent stone), Aberlemno, Angus. Boxed during winter months.
• The Craw Stane, a six-foot-high Class I stone on top of a hill near Rhynie. A salmon and Pictish Beast are carved on the south-facing side.
• Dunnichen Stone, a class I stone found at Dunnichen, Angus, now on display at the Meffan Institute in Forfar. A replica stands at its former position in front of Dunnichen church.
• Tain and District Museum, Tain — Class I stone in the yard and fragments from Edderton churchyard and Nigg in the museum.
• Inverness Museum, Castle Wynd, Inverness — collection of 8 Class I stones, including the Ardross Wolf and Deer's Head (two of the finest surviving animal symbols, probably originally parts of the same slab), and a fragment that matches a piece in Dunrobin Castle.
• Knocknagael Boar Stone, Highland Council HQ, Glenurquhart St, Inverness — Class I stone to be seen through a large window. Found at Knocknagael on the outskirts of Inverness.
• Churchyard Stone, Strathpeffer — Class I stone
• Clach a'Mheirlich, Rosskeen — Class I stone in a field.
• Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack — large collection of excavated fragments and information about the Picts.
• Sharp Stone (Clach Biorach), Edderton — Class I stone in a field (probable original position), viewable from the roadside.
• Kincardine Old Church, Ardgay — coffin-shaped monument.
• Eagle Stone (Clach an Tiompain), Strathpeffer Class I stone.
• Tote Stone, Tote on the Isle of Skye — Class I stone in small fenced enclosure.

Class II

The Nigg Stone, 790–799 AD, Class II, shows a Pictish harp, beasts and warriors in a 19th century illustration, minus the top section.

• Aberlemno 2 (The kirkyard stone) – in the churchyard at Aberlemno, Angus. Boxed during winter months.
• Aberlemno 3 (The great stone) – at the roadside, Aberlemno, Angus. Boxed during winter months.
• Drosten Stone – Rare example of a Pictish stone with an inscription in Latin text. At St Vigeans, Angus.
• Dunfallandy Stone (Clach an t-Sagairt, 'The Priest's Stone'), Pitlochry – fine Class II stone (Historic Scotland).
• Eassie Stone, stands in the ruined church at Eassie*Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie – collection of fragments of Pictish stones and a Class II cross-slab. The museum also has a collection of photographs of Pictish stones in Scotland.
• Fordoun Stone, in the vestibule of Fordoun parish church, Auchenblae there is a Class II 'Pictish' cross-slab which had been used as the base of the pulpit of the church of 1788. The face bears a Latin cross, part of a 'sea monster', a double-disc and Z-rod, a hunting scene with three horsemen and dogs, and two inscriptions, one in Hiberno-Saxon minuscules (on the face) and the other in Ogam (on the edge).
• Kirriemuir Sculptured Stones, now on display at the Meffan Institute in Forfar.
• Hilton of Cadboll Stone, now in the National Museum, with a replica at the original site. One of the finest pictorial stones
• Nigg Stone, Nigg inside the former parish church – Class II cross-slab. A fragment of it can be found in Tain Museum
• Trusty's Hill, near Anwoth, Dumfries and Galloway – a series of Class II stones.
• Shandwick Stone, Shandwick – Class II cross-slab protected by glass shelter.
• St Orland's Stone, near Kirriemuir, Angus.
• Woodwrae Stone, from Woodwrae, Angus, now at Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

Class III

Class III Pictish stone in Dunblane Cathedral

• The Camus Cross, high cross near Carnoustie.
• The Dupplin Cross high cross at St Serf's church, Dunning.
• Dunblane Cathedral, Dunblane — this Class III stone was found in the foundations of Dunblane Cathedral during restoration. It can be found inside the Cathedral.
• Sueno's Stone, Forres — 6.5m-high cross-slab (tallest in Scotland) dating from 9th or 10th century protected by glass (Historic Scotland).

Collections

The Hilton of Cadboll Stone in the Museum of Scotland.

• Dunrobin Castle Museum, Golspie — collection of over 20 Class I and II Pictish stones collected by the Dukes of Sutherland.
• Elgin Museum, High St, Elgin — large collection, largely from Kinneddar churchyard.
• McManus Galleries, Dundee. Collection of class I and III stones.
• The Meffan Institute, Forfar
• Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum, Meigle, near Forfar
• Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
• Montrose Museum
• Perth Museum, Perth — collection of 3 Pictish stones, St Madoes 1, Inchyra and Gellyburn.
• Pictavia, near Brechin
• St Vigeans Museum, Arbroath — collection of Pictish and medieval stones. Includes the Drosten Stone, a class 2 cross-slab, one of only two Pictish symbol-stones to carry a non-ogham inscription. Key from Arbroath Abbey or keyholder in village (Historic Scotland).

Distribution

Distribution of Class I and Class II stones, as well as caves holding Pictish symbol graffiti

Pictish Symbol stones have been found throughout Scotland, although their original locations are concentrated largely in the North East of the country in lowland areas.

Areas that show particular concentrations include Strathtay, Strathmore, coastal Angus, Fife, Strathdee, Garioch, Moray, Strathspey, Caithness, Easter Ross, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.

Two Pictish Class I stones are known to have been removed from Scotland. These are Burghead 5 (Moray), showing the figure of a bull, now in the British Museum, and the Crosskirk stone (Caithness), presented to the KIng of Denmark in the 19h century, but whose location is currently unknown.

See also

• Painted pebbles
• Carved Stone Balls
• Petrosphere
• High cross

Gallery

Aberlemno 1; Class I   Aberlemno 4; Class I   Brandsbutt Stone; Class I with ogham inscription   Dunnichen Stone; Class I   Eagle Stone; Class I   Fiskavaig Stone; Class I   Invereen Stone; Class I   Strathmartine Castle Stone; Class I   Eassie Stone; Class II   Woodwrae Stone; Class II   Aberlemno 3, front face; Class II   Aberlemno 3 rear face detail; Class II   Monifieth 1; Class II   Hilton of Cadboll Stone (replica); Class II   Dupplin Cross, Class III   Monifieth 4; Class III   Camus Cross; Class III

External links

• The Highland Council Archaeology Unit — This webpage offers a leaflet in PDF-format about a Pictish Trail from Inverness to Golspie
• The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland — RCAHMS is the principal source of collections for Scotland’s archaeology, buildings and maritime heritage, including Pictish Stones.
• Undiscovered Scotland — Page about the Meigle Pictish Stones Museum with links to other relevant online resources
• University of Strathclyde — Pictish Stones Search Facility, a useful catalogue of the stones.
• New Written Language of Ancient Scotland Discovered. Once thought to be rock art, carved depictions of soldiers, horses and other figures are in fact part of a written language dating back to the Iron Age.(J. Viegas, News in Discovery.com, Wed Mar 31, 2010).