A Pictish stone is a large stone monument, often decorated with symbols or designs. Some have ogham writing, which is an ancient script. These stones are found in Scotland, mostly in the north, near the Clyde and Forth rivers, and on the eastern part of the country. They are the most visible remains of the Picts, an ancient people who lived there. These stones are believed to have been made between the 6th and 9th centuries, a time when the Picts began to follow Christianity. Earlier Pictish stones are unlike any other stones from the rest of the British Isles, but later ones share similarities with other stone traditions in the region, such as high crosses. Around 350 Pictish stones have survived. The earliest examples contain the most surviving examples of the mysterious symbols, which have puzzled scholars for many years.

Classification

In 1903, J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson wrote a book called The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland. In this book, they first divided Pictish stones into three groups. Some people have pointed out problems with this system. However, it is still widely used by experts today. This system can be confusing when looking at stones that are not complete. Allen and Anderson believed that each group came from different time periods in order. However, we now know that Class I and Class II stones were made at the same time for a long period. Later Scottish stones became part of larger medieval traditions in Britain and Europe.

Purpose and meaning

The purpose and meaning of the stones are not fully understood, and the theories about the early Class I symbol stones, which mostly date to before Christianity spread among the Picts, are mostly guesses.

Later Christian stones from Class II and Class III are easier to categorize, such as gravestones. Earlier symbol stones may have been used as personal memorials or markers for land areas, with symbols representing names, clans, families, or groups. Other theories also exist about the meanings of the symbols.

Class I and II stones include symbols from a set of standard ideograms, many of which are unique to Pictish art and called Pictish symbols. The exact number of these symbols is not certain because there is debate about what counts as a Pictish symbol and whether different forms should be grouped or counted separately. Some estimates suggest more than sixty symbols, but a more common estimate is about thirty or forty, according to Historic Scotland.

These symbols include geometric shapes, which researchers have given names to, and images of animals. Some symbols show everyday objects, like the "mirror and comb," which may have been used by high-status Picts. Symbols are usually arranged in pairs or groups of pairs, with objects like the mirror and comb often placed below other symbols. Animals are typically found only with abstract symbols. This has led some to believe the symbols might represent names, families, or relationships, similar to the Japanese mon. According to Anthony Jackson, the pairs of symbols may represent marriages between families connected through the mother’s side.

A few Pictish stones have been found near burial sites, but most are not in their original places. Some later stones may have marked tribal or family lands. Others were reused, such as the two Congash Stones near Grantown-on-Spey, now placed as portal stones for an old graveyard. An old cross’s shaft lies in a nearby field.

Another Pictish stone, the Dunachton Stone near Kincraig, was later used as a door lintel in a barn. It was discovered when the barn was torn down in 1870 and later re-erected in the field. Recently, the stone fell after being photographed in 2007 but was re-erected again by the owner of Dunachton Lodge.

Pictish symbols also appear on rare surviving Pictish jewelry, such as silver plaques from the Norrie’s Law hoard found in Fife in the early 1800s and the Whitecleuch Chain. Symbols are sometimes found on small stone discs and bones from the Northern Isles. Simple or early forms of the symbols are carved on walls of coastal caves in East Wemyss, Fife, and Covesea, Moray. This suggests the symbols may have appeared on other items that did not survive, such as clothing or tattoos. Some symbols are found across the entire area where Pictish stones exist, while others, like the bull symbol on six stones at Burghead Fort, may have represented the place or its owners, even though the same symbol appears elsewhere.

A team from Exeter University used math to analyze Pictish symbols and concluded they "exhibit the characteristics of written languages" (not random or heraldic symbols). However, linguists Mark Liberman and Richard Sproat criticized this claim, saying the uneven spread of symbols is not much different from random patterns, like dice rolls, and that the team used a broader definition of writing than linguists typically do.

So far, no one has successfully deciphered the symbols, even those who believe they are a form of writing. Earlier studies suggested the symbols might represent parts of a pagan "pre-Christian Celtic Cult of the Archer Guardian," but these ideas remain unproven.

Gallery of symbols

A group of Pictish symbols is shown here, highlighting the differences between each symbol. Most researchers group each set into one type. Only geometric and object symbols are shown here, not the animal symbols.

Distribution and sites

Only a few Pictish stones remain at their original places; most have been moved to museums or other safe locations. Some important examples and groups of stones are listed below. Note that being listed does not mean people can always visit them, as some are on private land. Pictish Symbol stones have been found across Scotland, but they were mostly created in the North East, in lowland areas that were the center of the Pictish people. During the time these stones were made, Christianity was spreading through Scotland from the west and south, through the kingdoms of Dál Riata, which included parts of Ireland, and through the areas of modern Scotland that were part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Bernicia and Northumbria.

Areas with many of these stones include Strathtay, Strathmore, coastal Angus, Fife, Strathdee, Garioch, Moray, Strathspey, Caithness, Easter Ross, the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland.

Three stones with Pictish symbols are found outside the usual Pictish regions: one in Dunadd, Argyll; one at Trusty's Hill in Dumfries and Galloway; and one in Edinburgh, Lothian. All three are located near major royal centers.

Two Pictish Class I stones were taken from Scotland. One is Burghead 5 from Burghead Fort in Moray, showing a bull, now in the British Museum. The other is the Crosskirk stone from Caithness, which was given to the King of Denmark in the 19th century. Its current location is unknown.