Welcome to this web site which has been significantly updated and expanded since its original version of April 2010.
Pictish Symbol Stones - Why So Intriguing?
Around 1500 years ago these enigmatic structures appeared predominantly in the north east of what, more recently, has become Scotland. They can be confused with the wide array of other standing stones, megaliths, circles and dolmens that do not display symbols.
1. They are called “Pictish” but who erected them?
2. Why is there a gap between the naming of the “Picts” by the Roman invaders around the late 3rd Century CE and the generally suggested dates for the erection of the stones? Or are previous estimates incorrect?
3. Did the existing population erect the stones – or was it by incomers?
4. Who had the skills to carve the stones; and why onto a material that has endured so long? Was this choice of material deliberate?
5. What do the symbols mean – assuming they do have a specific purpose and give a particular message? Are they for worship, boundary markers, commemorative of specific events, used to educate – or maybe just decorative?
6. Are the stones located in significant locations?
7. Why did the symbols on the seemingly older stones carry forward to the newer ones with Christian crosses?
These and many more are the reasons why they are intriguing. In some ways it would be a shame to have a definitive explanation of their purpose! But that is what this web site seeks to do.
Norman J Penny
Birchington, Kent
May 2012
Site last updated 1 May 2012 Website © Norman J Penny
A downloadable e-book of the main contents is available at the adjacent link.
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