A Pictish stone is a type of stone monument, usually carved with symbols or designs. Some have ogham writing, which is a special kind of script. These stones are found in Scotland, mostly in the north and on the eastern side of the country. They are the best surviving evidence of the Picts, a group of people who lived there long ago. Scholars believe these stones were made between the 6th and 9th centuries, a time when the Picts began to follow Christianity. The earliest stones are unlike any other stones from the British Isles, but later ones share features with other types of stone monuments, such as high crosses. About 350 Pictish stones have survived. The oldest ones have the most examples of the mysterious symbols, which have puzzled researchers for many years.
Classification
In The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (1903), J. Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson first grouped Pictish stones into three categories. Some people have pointed out problems with this system, but it is still used today. In particular, the system may be confusing for stones that are not complete. Allen and Anderson believed their groups came from different time periods one after another, but now it is clear that Class I and Class II stones were being made at the same time for a long period.
Later Pictish stones became part of wider medieval British and European traditions.
Purpose and meaning
Scholars do not fully understand the purpose or meaning of these stones. Theories about the early Class I symbol stones, which mostly date to before Christianity spread among the Picts, are not certain.
Later Christian stones from Class II and Class III are easier to categorize, such as gravestones. Earlier symbol stones may have been personal memorials or markers for territories. They might have shown names, clans, or family groups, though other ideas also exist.
Class I and II stones include symbols from a known set of standard ideograms, many unique to Pictish art, called Pictish symbols. The exact number of these symbols is unclear because researchers disagree about what counts as a symbol and whether different forms should be grouped or counted separately. Some estimates suggest more than sixty symbols, but most sources say about thirty or forty.
These symbols include geometric shapes, animals, and everyday objects like the "mirror and comb," which may have been used by high-status Picts. Symbols are often arranged in pairs or groups, with objects like the mirror and comb placed below other symbols. Animals usually appear with abstract symbols. Some researchers think the pairs might represent names, family lines, or clans, similar to the Japanese mon. According to Anthony Jackson, the pairs could show marriage alliances between families.
A few Pictish stones have been found near burial sites, but most are not in their original places. Some were reused, such as two stones near Grantown-on-Spey, now placed as entrance stones for an old graveyard. Another stone, the Dunachton Stone near Kincraig, was used as a door lintel in a barn. It was found when the barn was torn down in 1870 and later re-erected in the field. It fell again in 2007 but was re-erected later.
Pictish symbols also appear on rare surviving jewelry, like silver plaques from the Norrie's Law hoard in Fife and the Whitecleuch Chain. They are sometimes found on small stone discs and bones from the Northern Isles. Simple symbols are carved on coastal cave walls in East Wemyss, Fife, and Covesea, Moray. This suggests the symbols may have been used in other ways, like on clothing or tattoos, that did not survive. Some symbols appear across all regions, while others, like the bull symbol on six stones at Burghead Fort, may have represented the place or its owners.
A team from Exeter University studied the symbols and found they "exhibit the characteristics of written languages." However, linguists Mark Liberman and Richard Sproat criticized this claim, arguing that the uneven distribution of symbols is not different from patterns found in non-writing systems, like dice rolls. They also said the team used a broader definition of writing than what linguists typically use.
To date, no one has successfully deciphered the symbols, even those who think they represent writing. Earlier studies suggested possible meanings for symbol pairs based on 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 category. Only symbols shaped like geometric figures and objects are displayed, not those with animal images.
Distribution and sites
Only a few stones remain in 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 everyone can visit them, as some are on private land. Pictish Symbol stones have been found across Scotland, but they were mostly made in the North East, in lowland areas that were the center of the Picts. When these stones were created, Christianity was spreading through Scotland from the west and south, through the kingdoms of Dál Riata, which included parts of Ireland, and through the expansion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Bernicia and Northumbria into modern-day Scotland.
Stones are often found in areas like 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 areas usually considered Pictish: one at Dunadd in Argyll, one at Trusty's Hill in Dumfries and Galloway, and one in Edinburgh in Lothian. All three are near important royal centers.
Two Pictish Class I stones have been taken out of Scotland. One is the Burghead 5 stone 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 but is now missing, and its current location is unknown.