The Arrangement Of The Class I Pictish Stones North Of The River Tay

The 50 or so mysterious Pictish symbols and the stones displaying them have become central to all discussion of the Picts. Generations of scholars have sought to interpret the symbols with little agreement. This book takes an indirect approach to the situation. The present layout of Class I stones hints at an arrangement in chains in which adjacent stones in a chain are linked by a common symbol. This is investigated and the chains identified. Between the River Tay and the Dornoch Firth, virtually all stones belong to a chain and the chains seem to be practically complete. The chains appear to have superseded stones created and positioned independently. The stone pattern is more complicated than isolated chains of stones and special junction stones are used to register the crossing of two or more chains. Auxiliary stones are also identified, which give information about a chain or chains. The identification of the chains and the conventions used in junction and auxiliary stones permit the meaning of more than 20 symbols to be understood as they are used in the chains. These are not suggested to be the original meanings of the symbols but they provide hints to assist in assessing what the original meaning of some symbols might be. This particularly applies to significant symbols called crescent and V rod, Pictish beast, and Z rod. The purpose of the chains can only be hinted at here but Pictish scholarship will soon clarify this.

Includes List of members.

“A major study of the art of the Picts.” —Library Journal Drawing on their extensive research and expertise, renowned historians George and Isabel Henderson illuminate one of the great enigmas of medieval art: the unique metalwork and sculpture of the Picts. Tribal Celtic-speaking warriors and farmers in what is now Scotland, the Picts were one of the major peoples of early medieval Britain, but their culture and their beautiful art have puzzled historians for centuries. George and Isabel Henderson’s acute analysis reveals an art form that both interacted with the currents of “Insular” art and was produced by a sophisticated society capable of sustaining large-scale art programs. The illustrations include specially commissioned drawings that help one understand the mysterious symbols found in the art.

Excavation of seven turf buildings at Lair in Glen Shee confirms the introduction of Pitcarmick buildings to the hills of north-east Perth and Kinross in the early 7th century AD. Clusters of these at Lair, and elsewhere in the hills, are interpreted as integrated, spatially organised farm complexes comprising byre-houses and outbuildings.