symbol.stone Pictish.stone

Type: Class 1 double-disc & Z-rod

Hunt,Charles.G & Inglis,James.C

Pict

Early: 450 Late: 1000 Period: EMED

Hunt,Charles.G & Inglis,James.C

stone granite

H: 1160 mm W: 780 mm T: 210 mm

The Picts developed from the Iron Age population of northern Scotland during the first centuries AD, and were first mentioned in records in 297 AD and continued into the 9th century. Pictish carved stones appeared by the 5th or 6th century, the date of the earliest being disputed. Originally some may have been painted. This Class I symbol stone is probably the base of a larger, granite standing stone. It is engraved with a double disc and Z-rod. The design suggests a date of the 6th or 7th century AD. The stone was recovered lying face down from Dead Man's Howe, near Insch, Aberdeenshire, which is in the valley between the hill of Dunnideer, upon which is a fort of this period, and the Hill of Christ's Kirk, which is surmounted by the remains of a palisaded enclosure, probably also dating from the Iron Age.