Pictish Stones

 Our January talk was by deputy chair, Dr Barbara Swann who gave an illustrated talk about Pictish Stones; these carved stones, found in the north east of Scotland are remarkable in their depiction of life 300-900AD and show great skill in stone carving.

Here's one of my favourite stones:

It appears to combine someone riding a horse, some animals and some of the symbols which appear on many of the carvings. The stone has been shaped and a border has been carved around it. Barbara gave us lots of information on the Picts:

A great map showing where to find some of the 350 Pictish stones in Scotland

These symbols appear in many of the carvings, and once you look them up, there are many more, with their apparent meanings here

The Vanora Stone seen below is found on Vanora's Mound, more details here

A couple more photos of stones, this one has a duck and fish carved into it:

Below, the Dupplin Cross is a carved, monumental Pictish stone, which dates from around 800 AD. It was first recorded by Thomas Pennant in 1769, on a hillside in Strathearn, a little to the north (and on the opposite bank of the river Earn from) Forteviot and Dunning.

And finally more information about the stones; what is so fascinating about them is that any of us can make interpretations of what we think they mean, and why they were carved. We don't necessarily know why The Picts carved these stones depicting their life, but we can make suggestions.

If you'd like to see the recording of the talk, it's here.