Who Were The Picts? (English) - Dig It! Scotland

Who Were the Picts? (English)

The Picts are best known for their amazing symbol stones which can be found throughout Scotland. However, recent research has uncovered fantastic new elite settlements, discovered Pictish monasteries and even managed to provide dates for these famous stones. Armed with this new data, let’s have a look at some of the common questions asked about these fascinating people.

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Why Do We Call Them Picts?

‘Pict’ comes from the Roman name Picti, meaning “painted people” and it is traditionally thought to refer to the practice of tattooing or body painting. This term was first used around 1,700 years ago and was developed to distinguish between Roman and non-Roman Britons during the time of the Roman occupation of the British Isles. It has subsequently come to refer to a group of people who lived in what is now Scotland.

Unfortunately, very little written material from the Picts survives and so we are reliant on what other people in Britain and Ireland wrote about them. Because of this, caution must be used when attempting to understand and interpret these sources.

A Pict, as represented in a 19th-century history book (via Wikipedia, Public Domain) and an early 20th-century depiction of Saint Columba’s miracle at the gate of King Bridei’s fortress, described in Adomnán’s late 7th-century Vita Columbae (via Wikipedia, Public Domain)

Medieval scholars such as the English monk Bede, and Adomnán, an Abbot of Iona, used Picti to describe the Britons living north of the River Forth in Scotland and wrote down other details about the land of the Picts.

However, how the Picts identified themselves and on what basis this identity was recognised remains a complex issue.

Where Did the Picts Come From?

An ancient origin story, probably created by the Picts themselves, says that they sailed to Scotland from ancient Sycthia (mostly likely modern-day Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe), where classical sources, such as The Histories written by Herodotus (an ancient Greek author) in 430 BC, also describe a painted people living here.

However, this is unlikely to be true. This myth was probably an attempt by the Picts to locate their origins in the classical world which was part of the trend for developing kingdoms at that time. Scholars have argued that kings and elites sought to use such origin myths or ‘ethnic ideology’ to support their power and solidify their claims to rulership.

The tribes of Scotland as laid down by the Roman geographer Ptolemy (Creative Commons)

It is more likely that the Picts were the descendants of native peoples of Scotland such as the Caledones or Vacomagi who lived in modern-day northern and eastern Scotland around 1,800 years ago.

When Were the Picts in Scotland?

Historians and archaeologists have debated about how long the Picts thought of themselves as one people with a distinctive culture, how long they ruled over a single kingdom, and when this kingdom came to an end. But based on archaeological evidence, the existence of Pictish symbol stones, and written sources, it can be argued that the people known as Picts were around for a period of about 600 years from roughly AD 300 to AD 900.

Recent analysis by archaeologists at ancient metalworking and settlement sites, such as Dunnicaer and Rhynie in Aberdeenshire and Jonathan’s Cave at East Wemyss  in Fife, has revealed that they were in use around 1,700 years  ago. These sites all contain similar early style Pictish symbols, the purpose of which seems to have been to convey identities, most likely personal names. This means that throughout northern and eastern Scotland, people were probably carving their names using a shared symbol system.

This tradition of carving endured for centuries, with Pictish symbols being added onto Christian sculpture, such as the amazing Rosemarkie Cross Slab which was carved about 1,200 years ago.

The surviving written sources cannot tell us exactly when the Pictish kingdom ceased to exist, but a note on the death of a king, preserved in a document called the The Annals of Ulster (a chronological history of Medieval Ireland from AD 431 to AD 1540), might give us a clue. This details that the last person to be named rex Pictorum (king of the Picts) was someone named Áed who was assassinated in AD 878 by members of his own household.[1] Not a great way to go at any rate!

Also, from around AD 860 major Viking settlement took place in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland as well as some areas of the mainland. This further destabilised the Pictish kingdom and there are hints of Viking raids at Pictish monasteries like Portmahomack in Easter Ross, where amazing Pictish cross slabs and other sculpture were broken and smashed.

From AD 900 onwards, the Pictish kingdom and its rulers were replaced by people who no longer regarded themselves as Picts, but as people of Alba, the precursor to what we call Scotland. The rulers and nobles of this new kingdom mainly traced their lineages back to Ireland, not Pictland.

Where in Scotland Did the Picts Live?

We know where the Picts lived mostly by the symbol stones they left behind. Their locations tell us that they occupied extensive territory, specifically in northern and eastern Scotland including Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan A-Muigh (the Outer Hebrides). For example, amazing Pictish sculpture can be found at Knowe of Burrian in Orkney showing some of the classic Pictish symbols, such the mirror and crescent and v-rod.

Day 19. The ‘Burrian Eagle’ Pictish symbol stone. Featuring eagle, mirror and crescent & V-rod symbols. #AdventCalendar #orkney pic.twitter.com/Cfh2Wctw77

— Orkney Museums (@OrkneyMuseums) December 19, 2016

However, their territories or later kingdom had no fixed borders or boundaries from the period AD 300 to 900. These could shift as the Picts or their neighbours flexed their military muscle or entered into alliances with neighbouring peoples, such as the Gaels of Dal Riata in modern-day Earra-Ghàidheal (Argyll).

What Did the Picts Look Like?

Early modern depictions of the Picts, such as A Pictish Warrior Holding a Human Head and A Pictish Woman created by John White around 400 years ago, show naked warriors decorated with tattoos. However, these paintings have little basis in fact.

A Pictish warrior holding a human head by John White (© The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Fortunately, we do have amazing representations carved by the Picts themselves on some of their surviving stone sculptures. For example, a female figure is shown riding side saddle with long hair and wearing a large brooch fastened to her cloak on the Hilton of Cadboll Cross Slab.

In Shetland, a bearded man with curly hair scratched onto a piece of slate gives an almost cartoonish impression of what a Pictish man may have looked like. Interestingly mirrors and combs, such as those see on the iconic Aberlemno Symbol Stone in Angus, feature frequently as symbols on Pictish stones, showing that they were very interested in their appearance.

The Bullion Stone from Invergowrie, Angus (c. AD 900 – AD 950) in the National Museum of Scotland shows an old Pictish man with a bald head and pointed beard (Image: Own Work).

An even more striking image comes from a modern reconstruction which was produced by Dame Sue Black and her team at the University of Dundee. The digital image features a Pictish man who was brutally killed and buried in a cave at Rosemarkie in Easter Ross about 1,400 years ago.

What Is the Evidence for the Picts?

The largest source of evidence for the existence of the Picts is their remarkable Pictish symbols. These are a unique range of at least 50 designs that have been carved on stones, cave walls, bones and  amazing silver jewellery. The purpose of these symbols seems to have been to convey identities, most likely personal names.

Recent archaeological excavations at Rhynie have also produced evidence for the creation of small animal figurines, which look quite similar to some of the animals carved on the Pictish stones, such as the Ardross Wolf.

The Picts also created monumental burial mounds, called ‘square-‘ or ‘round-‘ barrows. Some of these have recently been excavated at Tarradale in the Highlands which contains at least 18 round barrows and 8 square barrows (although only the cropmarks were visible as the mounds have been ploughed away over time). Fortunately, some of these barrow cemeteries are still upstanding and you can visit them at Garbeg and Whitebridge in Inverness-shire.

You can see in the middle of this photo of Garbeg Barrows the raised areas which are some of the mounds (Image: Daniel MacLean)

Settlement archaeology is another key piece of evidence for the existence of the Picts. The incredible promontory fort (a settlement with defences located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land) at Burghead in Moray has complex defences which included a triple rampart cutting the promontory from the headland and an upper and lower enclosure within. Excavations and radiocarbon dating suggest the fort was in use from the 6th to the 10th century AD. Six symbol stones of bulls survive from a much larger group found in the 19th century and later Christian sculpture has also been found. Some of the stones can be seen at the visitor centre in the fort.

Symbol stone of rough sandstone with the incised figure of a bull, Pictish, from Burghead, Moray (National Museums Scotland)

What Was the Pictish Lifestyle?

The lifestyle of the Picts was based around agriculture, both the growing of crops and the rearing of animals and we can tell from their symbol stones that animals had a special significance for the Picts.

There is growing evidence from archaeological sites regarding what types of animals were eaten and what types of crops were grown, with barley and oats being the most common types uncovered. At the Pictish settlement at Portmahomack in Easter Ross, plough pebbles were discovered. These were inserted into the edge of a 1,400-year-old wooden plough to protect it from erosion by the soil. This incredible discovery shows that inhabitants of Portmahomack had access to advanced technology and were involved in quite intensive agriculture for the time period. The detail of this discovery can be found in the excavation publication (at pages 96-98).

Recent excavations at Rhynie have also produced rare evidence that some elite Picts were drinking Mediterranean wine from French glass beakers 1,500 years ago. The site, which was probably one of the houses of a Pictish king, also produced evidence for the creation of fine jewellery such as brooches and pins, possibly in silver. Tantalisingly, pieces of the large pottery vessels (amphora) which contained the Mediterranean wine have also been found at the huge Pictish settlement at Tap O’ Noth which is just to the North East of the high status site at Rhynie.

These amazing finds demonstrate the trade connections the people living in Rhynie would have had, such as the ability to import wine and the access to precious metals such as silver. They also show the technical skill of Pictish craftspeople.

We also know from stone sculptures that the Picts enjoyed hunting wild animals such as deer and that this was done on horseback with hunting dogs. The ongoing excavations at the large Pictish fort at Burghead has produced deer, horse and dog bone in some of the rubbish dumps that relate to the people who lived in the fort.

Could I Be Related to a Pict?

Over the last decade, there has been a growing popularity in genetic geneaology (tracing your ancient ancestry), with a number of websites now offering the opportunity to trace your ‘true’ ancestry back centuries across the globe.

Simple mathematics would show that most people from modern-day Scotland could be related to the Picts, or any of the other peoples who inhabited what is now Scotland, such as the Gaels of Dal Riata. Indeed, anyone with European roots can be partially linked to anyone who lived in Europe around 1,000 years ago.

However, caution must be taken as the studies that have driven this research in tracing your genetic genealogy have been conducted using very large sample sizes to analyse the histories of populations. This means that scientists have analysed the genetic data at a large scale which is not necessarily representative of your own individual genetic makeup.

We should also be aware that studies into genetic geneaology may give us a distorted idea of what Pictish society actually looked like. There is some evidence that engaging with genetic research serves to position the male line of descent as the most important. In some instances, it also appears to re-affirm masculine ideas of the Pictish family. However, one of the most famous of all of the Pictish Kings, Nechtan mac Der-Ilei (Nechatan, the son of Der-Ilei) sought to legitimise his claim to the Pictish kingship of Fortriu through his mother’s ancestry (though this was not common practice and seemed to occur only in exceptional circumstances),

Assembling the Pictish Puzzle

The Picts are a fascinating people and recent research has helped to provide answers to some of the most common questions posed about them. Thanks to large-scale archaeological investigations, such as those at Rhynie, Portmahomack and Burghead, we know much more about their symbol stones, their lifestyle and where they lived.

However, there is still much to be uncovered. If you want to find out more or get involved in the search, please follow the University of Aberdeen’s Northern Picts Project on Twitter and Facebook, or read about more of their recent work here.

And if you want to see some of these amazing symbol stones up close and personal, why not visit two museums in the Highlands: Tarbat Discovery Centre near Tain or Groam House Museum in Fortrose?

By Daniel MacLean. Daniel studied Celtic and Viking Archaeology at the University of Glasgow and is currently working with the Northern Picts Project assisting at the excavations of sites such as Rhynie and Burghead with a particular focus on the material culture uncovered and the community engagement side of the Project.

Header Image: The Craw Stane, one of the Pictish symbol stones discovered at the high-status power centre at Rhynie in Aberdeenshire during the 2015 excavations (Crown Copyright HES)

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Further Reading

• Portmahomack on Tarbat Ness: Changing Ideologies in North-East Scotland, Sixth to Sixteenth Century AD, available as a free e-book on the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland website
• The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce – Gordon Noble and Nicholas Evans
• The Art of the Picts: Sculpture and Metalwork in Early Medieval Scotland – George Henderson and Isabel Henderson
• Picts Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland – Sally M. Foster
• From Caledonia to Pictland: Scotland to Ad 795 – James Fraser
• Scotland’s Early Silver – Alice Blackwell, Martin Goldberg and Fraser Hunter