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Monuments erected by early Scottish tribes

A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts and are thought to date from the 6th to 9th century, a period during which the Picts became Christianized. The earlier stones have no 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. About 350 objects classified as Pictish stones have survived, the earlier examples of which holding by far the greatest number of surviving examples of the mysterious symbols, which have long intrigued scholars.

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. In particular, the classification may be misleading for the many incomplete stones. Allen and Anderson regarded their classes as coming from distinct periods in sequence, but it is now clear that there was a considerable period when both Class I and II stones were being produced. Class I — unworked stones with symbols only incised. There is no cross on either side. Class I stones date back to the 6th, 7th and 8th century. Class II — 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 II stones date from the 8th and 9th century. Class III — 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. Historic Scotland describes this class as "too simplistic" and says "Nowadays this is not considered a useful category. A surviving fragment may belong to a monument that did include Christian imagery". or "around forty" according to Historic Scotland. Some are representations of everyday objects, such as the "mirror and comb", which could have been used by high status Picts. The symbols are almost always arranged in pairs or sets of pairs, often with the object type, such as the mirror and comb, below the others, and the animals are generally found only in combination with the abstract types. and the Whitecleuch Chain. 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. It is therefore thought likely that they were represented in other more perishable forms that have not survived in the archaeological record, perhaps including clothing and tattoos. Some symbols appear across the whole geographical range of the stones while, for example, six stones with the single symbol of a bull found at Burghead Fort suggest that this represented the place itself, or its owners, despite other examples appearing elsewhere. The Exeter analysts' 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. Although earlier studies based on a contextual approach, postulating the identification of the pagan "pre Christian Celtic Cult of the Archer Guardian", have suggested possible clausal meanings for symbol pairs.

A selection of the Pictish symbols, showing the variation between individual examples. Each group is classified as a single type by most researchers. Only the geometric and object types are represented here, not the animal group.

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). 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, the Pictish heartland. During the period when the stones were being created, Christianity was spreading through Scotland from the west and the south, through the kingdoms of Dál Riata, which included parts of Ireland, and the extension into modern Scotland of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Bernicia and Northumbria. 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 from Burghead Fort in 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 19th century, but whose location is currently unknown.

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).