Guest Blog by Kenneth McIntosh

They are among the finest examples of Celtic artwork, they communicate in coded symbols whose meaning is now forgotten, and they often portray bizarre mythical monsters—what’s not to love about Pictish stones? There is an allure to stone art in any global setting: Aboriginal Australian markings, Native American Petroglyphs, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Celtic monuments, all share a feeling of mystery due to their extreme age and enigmatic designs. But while stone is durable it is not eternal; even lithic objects suffer from the ravages of time. On a recent trip to Scotland I followed the Easter Ross Pictish trail and observed five different approaches to the preservation of that country’s Pictish legacy. 

Before I take you on a guided tour of the stones, I’ll say a few words for readers unfamiliar with the topic. When Rome first ventured into the land now called Scotland, they encountered people whom they called ‘Picts,’ meaning ‘Painted People.’ Pictish culture continued in the Scottish Highlands from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. The ‘Scoti’-- people who originated in Ireland--gradually moved into Caledonia and Scots culture largely replaced Pictish culture by the 10th century, with the resultant loss of the Pictish language.

They left behind more than 300 stone monuments, carved in the Late Middle Ages, and concentrated along Scotland’s East Coast north of Edinburgh. Scholars divide them into 3 classes: ‘Type 1’ stones are incised on more ancient monoliths and the designs are not demonstrably Christian, ‘Type 2’ stones have raised carving, are on prepared stones, and combine ‘Type 1’ designs with a Christian cross, and ‘Type 3’ designs display only Christian symbols.

These stone monuments are remarkable works of art, and the four elements that comprise ‘Celtic’ artwork—knots, key patterns, spirals and zoomorphs—occur in dizzying interlocking arrangements. The most popular primer of Celtic art, Celtic Art: the Methods of Construction by George Bain, was based largely on Bain’s examination of Pictish carvings. 

Pictish stones often display common symbols, repeated from stone to stone. These are known as ‘V Rod,’ ‘Crescent,’ ‘Z Rod,’ and so on. They obviously communicated ideas known throughout that ancient world: were they proper names? Clan totems? Territorial boundaries? Speculation is abundant, but the language of Pictish stones is like having Egyptian hieroglyphs without a Rosetta Stone—so far, no one can prove having cracked their code.

Sometimes they are the habitation of outlandish creatures, the most common of which is the so-called ‘Pictish Beast.’ Is it a dolphin? A Kelpie? Nessie’s cousin? The Biblical Leviathan? Again, theories abound with no sure answer.

More from Kenneth McIntosh and Pictish Heritage next week!