“the Picts, divided into two tribes called the Dicalydones and Verturiones … are roving at large and causing great devastation.”

Lost in the mists of time?
Air chall ann an tìm?

We often think of the Picts as a mysterious and enigmatic people, lost in the mists of time. The intriguing carved symbol stones, metalwork and incredible Christian sculpture they have left in the Highland landscape is both beautiful and compelling. Their hilltop strongholds invoke an overwhelming sense of the ‘power of place’, and place-names with Pictish origins are scattered over the map. There was clearly a structure to Pictish society, with centres of royal and religious power and a way of life which is hinted at in the carvings they have left behind. However, the lack of Pictish written records means that, until recently, our knowledge of their society and how they lived was very limited.

So, who were the Picts?
Mar sin, cò bh’ anns na Cruithnich?

The Picts were descendants of the native Iron Age people. They lived between 300AD and 900AD in what is now called Scotland, in the area north of the River Clyde and River Forth.

The name ‘Picti’ means ‘painted people’ and is thought to refer to the Pictish practice of tattooing their bodies. It was most likely a ‘catch all’ term used by the Romans to describe (probably disparagingly) the people they encountered in their marches north into Scotland in the early centuries AD.

We do not know what the Picts called themselves. They are likely to have had many distinctive local identities. However, their artwork suggests that, over time, they developed an increasingly unified cultural identity. Place name evidence suggests that a similar language was spoken across the majority of Pictish territory.

A mysterious people?
Daoine dìomhair?

Much of the fragmentary knowledge we have about the Picts comes from what others wrote about them or from the king lists written many years later. Historians and poets often wrote from specific, non-Pictish or anti-Pictish viewpoints and give a one-dimensional view of wild warriors.

However, we know from the evidence of left by the Picts in the shape of carved stones, religious settlements, impressive hillforts, and finely-worked jewellery that the reality must have been somewhat different.

The time of the Picts was a vibrant period of great change, with power shifting between Picts, Gaels, Britons, Angles and later, the Vikings. At different times over these centuries the Picts battled for territorial control of land and resources with their neighbours the Angles of Northumbria, the Gaelic speaking Dál Riatans of modern Argyllshire and the Britons of Strathclyde. Some Picts also fought against other Picts over land and power across a patchwork of small Pictish kingdoms.

By the eighth century, a single strong Pictish kingdom existed across most of the country north of the River Forth. However, in the ninth century AD, the focus of Pictish power shifted defensively to the southern Highlands as the Vikings made greater land-grabs across the far north and west of the country. Increasing connections between ruling Pictish and Gaelic families accelerated as they worked together to defend their lands and people against brutal Viking attack. Kingships merged and gradually the Picts as a distinct society were subsumed into Gaelic culture and an emerging Scottish nation. As none of the Picts’ written records ultimately survived, their kingdoms, culture and beliefs faded into myth and mystery.

Thanks to exciting archaeological and academic research in recent times, we now know much more. Breakthrough work at Portmahomack has uncovered a major monastery complex that lasted for about a century at Tarbatness on the northern extremity of the Tarbat Peninsula in Easter Ross. The University of Aberdeen’s Northern Picts project is also uncovering important discoveries around Pictish people and focal places across the Highlands and Aberdeenshire. Others are also undertaking research, as at Tarradale near Muir of Ord. Pictish studies are continuing to evolve in exciting and significant ways, and it is exciting to wonder what will be revealed next.

At the centre not the edge
Sa mheadhan, chan ann air an iomall

In the past, it was often thought that the Highland area was just a northern outpost of Pictish power based further south in Scotland. However, in recent years there has been a huge increase in interest in the Picts, including in the Highlands. New research by archaeologists and historians is giving us a new understanding of their daily life, power, wealth and culture, and points to the Picts of the Highlands as a flourishing and sophisticated society. Important discoveries have provided fresh information including a critical reassessment of the centre of Pictish power. And there is now strong evidence that until the late 700s AD the Highlands were at the centre of the powerful Pictish kingdom known as Fortriu.

We are starting to understand that there were powerful partnerships between church and kingship, with some Pictish kings establishing religious centres. Highly decorated Pictish Christian cross slabs testify to the spread of the Christian message across the North and may have been used as a focus for outside religious ceremonies or contemplation. Many of the Highland sites with carved stones have remained as places of spiritual importance for local communities over the centuries.

The Highland Picts were not an insular society either. We know that they were connected to other early medieval societies in Britain and Europe, with strong political, artistic, cultural and religious ties.

Pictish influence today
Buaidh nan Cruithneach an-diugh

Perhaps the strongest legacy of the Highland Picts is the wealth of carved stones they have left us. From their early symbol stones to the elaborate Christian cross slabs of the Easter Ross (Tarbat) Peninsula, these stones not only give us a fascinating glimpse in to a lost way of life but have also provided inspiration for modern Highland artists and craftspeople.

Find out more
Faigh tuilleadh a-mach

Explore more about the Highland Picts by visiting our museums and sites. Use our geographical itineraries to take a tour and explore the Pictish heritage of the Highlands. Delve deeper into our Highland Pictish past from the comfort of home with our themed itineraries.