Rare medieval script discovered on ancient Pictish carved stone

A 1,500-year-old carved stone from the ‘Painted People’ in a Scottish cemetery possibly reveals a bull, pelicans, and an ancient alphabet script. The stone, unearthed last month in a small cemetery, dates to between CE 500 and 700.

Rare medieval script discovered on ancient Pictish cross stone slab Credit: Murray Cook / Stirling Council

The Picts, or”Painted People,” were so-named by Roman historians for their supposed war paint and tattoos (“picti,” is the Latin word for”paint”).

During the early medieval period, they lived in northern and eastern Scotland. The Picts, who were most likely descended from Celtic tribes, are well-known for successfully resisting Roman conquest. While the Romans regarded the Picts as barbarous and backward, they were mostly subsistence farmers who grew grain and herded domesticated animals.

Historians generally agree that shortly after the Picts sent the Romans out of Scotland in the late 5th century, in 685 AD, they drove out the remaining Britons (at the Battle of Dun Nechtain). They are thought to have consolidated and defended their mini-empire until Vikings took hold of the northeast at the beginning of the 10th century.

However, the discovery of a cross slab in a region that was a buffer zone between the Picts and the Romans, and later the Britons, complicates that tidy history.

Measuring 119 centimeters (47 inches) high and 82 centimeters (32 inches) wide, the Old Kilmadock stone is similar in size and shape to a large burial marker. Experts believe they may have served multiple functions. The item has a rounded top, animal decorations, and an Ogham script strip (a medieval alphabet).

“The cross slab is the first one in this region, and may mean that the residents started to think of themselves as Picts,” Murray Cook, a Stirling Council archaeologist who led the excavation, told Live Science via email.

Kelly Kilpatrick, a historian and Celticist at the University of Glasgow, told Live Science in an email that cross slabs “could be grave markers, and used to communicate Christian messages to a lay audience through imagery. Sometimes you find iconography from native Pictish religion intermixed with Christian iconography on these types of monuments.” But its rounded top and circular, knotted cross make the Old Kilmadock stone a rare type of Pictish cross slab.

“This discovery shows the value of archaeological investigation of early church sites in Scotland,” Maldonado said, “too few of which have been excavated. It is a huge win for community-led research, providing value both for local heritage and internationally.”

The recently discovered stone stands testimony to transitional times in Scottish history when ancient Pictish symbols were given new Christian interpretations.

The recently found stone stands testimony to transitional times in Scottish history when ancient Pictish symbols were given new Christian interpretations. The stone most likely survived because it was used to cover graves in the Old Kilmadock cemetery much later.

Related Posts

Fisherman uncovers remarkably preserved medieval sword in Warsaw’s Vistula River

Fisherman uncovers remarkably preserved medieval sword in Warsaw’s Vistula River

In an unprecedented and rare find, a sword dating back to the medieval period was pulled out of the bottom of the Vistula River by a fisherman…

Ancient sloth bone from Uruguay shows signs of possible human-inflicted trauma 33,000 years ago

Ancient sloth bone from Uruguay shows signs of possible human-inflicted trauma 33,000 years ago

Researchers have discovered evidence of human interaction with megafauna considerably earlier than the widely accepted arrival of humans in South America. A 33,000-year-old right calcaneus (heel bone)…

Forgotten Indigenous child slaves of New France revealed in new studies

Forgotten Indigenous child slaves of New France revealed in new studies

Historical accounts between 1632 and 1760 show a chilling reality: 734 Indigenous children were enslaved in France’s North American colony. These children, torn from their families and…

Exceptionally preserved Roman wicker well with ladder unearthed in Norfolk

Exceptionally preserved Roman wicker well with ladder unearthed in Norfolk

Archaeologists at Oxford Archaeology have uncovered an astonishingly well-preserved Roman-era well in Norfolk, England, that offers rare insight into the lives of people in Roman Britain some…

Ancient Egyptian genome reveals 4,500-year-old genetic ties to Mesopotamia

Ancient Egyptian genome reveals 4,500-year-old genetic ties to Mesopotamia

For the first time, scientists have successfully sequenced the complete genome of an individual from ancient Egypt, offering unprecedented insights into early Egyptian ancestry and revealing a…

Neanderthals operated prehistoric “fat factory” 125,000 years ago on German lakeshore

Neanderthals operated prehistoric “fat factory” 125,000 years ago on German lakeshore

Neanderthals in central Germany 125,000 years ago employed an advanced method of food preparation, according to a recent study: systematically stripping fat from the bones of large…