The Rosemarkie Stone or Rosemarkie Cross, a Class II Pictish stone, is one of the major surviving examples of Pictish art in stone.
The Rosemarkie Stone or Rosemarkie Cross, a Class II Pictish stone, is one of the major surviving examples of Pictish art in stone.
Carved from fine-grained sandstone, the Rosemarkie stone was found sometime prior to 1821 in the floor of the old church in the village of Rosemarkie. Rosemarkie was the probable site of a major Pictish monastery, on the Black Isle of Easter Ross. When found, the stone was broken into two parts that have since been reconstructed. [1] The reconstructed stone is now on display in Rosemarkie's Groam House Museum. [2]
On the front side is an elaborately decorated cross, while on the reverse side are various common Pictish symbols, including three crescents and v-rods and a double-disc and Z-rod, as well as a smaller cross at the bottom. It is the only Pictish stone to bear three versions of the same symbol. The sides are also decorated with a number of interlace patterns.
A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts and are thought to date from the 6th to 9th century, a period during which the Picts became Christianized. The earlier stones have no parallels from the rest of the British Isles, but the later forms are variations within a wider Insular tradition of monumental stones such as high crosses. About 350 objects classified as Pictish stones have survived, the earlier examples of which holding by far the greatest number of surviving examples of the mysterious symbols, which have long intrigued scholars.
Rosemarkie is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in Ross-shire, northern Scotland.
The Hilton of Cadboll Stone is a Class II Pictish stone discovered at Hilton of Cadboll, on the East coast of the Tarbat Peninsula in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is one of the most magnificent of all Pictish cross-slabs. On the seaward-facing side is a Christian cross, and on the landward facing side are secular depictions. The latter are carved below the Pictish symbols of crescent and v-rod and double disc and Z-rod: a hunting scene including a woman wearing a large penannular brooch riding side-saddle. Like other similar stones, it can be dated to about 800 AD.
Edderton Cross Slab is a Class III Pictish stone standing in the old graveyard of the village of Edderton, Easter Ross. The stone is of red sandstone. On the western side there is an undecorated but elegant celtic cross, the circles within its rings emphasised by being left in relief. On the eastern side there is another cross on the upper half, standing on a semi-circular base or arch, within which is a horseman in relief, with two further riders incised below. The slab was formerly sunk considerably deeper in the earth, concealing the lower two horsemen, but has recently been raised to its presumed original height.
Clach Chairidh, alternatively named Clach Biorach, is a Class I Pictish stone located in a field near the village of Edderton in Easter Ross.
The Nigg Stone is an incomplete Class II Pictish cross-slab, perhaps dating to the end of the 8th century.
The Ardjachie Stone is an uncut but decorated red sandstone boulder discovered by farmers in 1960 on the Ardjachie Farm in the Tarbat peninsula of Easter Ross. It now stands outside of the museum of Tain. On it are depicted several dozen cup or ring marks probably dating to the Bronze Age. It also has an inverted-L design with a wheel image above, both of probable Pictish origin. It therefore may be considered a Class I Pictish stone.
The Rosemarkie sculpture fragments are the Pictish slabs and stone fragments other than the main Rosemarkie Stone which have been discovered in Rosemarkie, on the Black Isle of Easter Ross. There are fourteen in all. Perhaps the most widely known is the so-called Daniel Stone. The latter is so named because of the tendency among scholars and enthusiasts of Pictish art to give every Pictish stone a Christian interpretation. In this case, the depiction of a man's head at the jaws of a wolf-like beast is supposed to depict the Old Testament story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. The stones are all of likely Christian origin, and share a similar style with the art of Iona. Some of them may have been of funerary purpose, as coffin lids, while others may have formed part of a larger stone. These stones are usually displayed in the Groam House Museum of Rosemarkie.
The Dingwall Stone is a Class I Pictish stone located in Dingwall, Easter Ross. It is thought by some to be of Bronze Age origin, and contains several cup and ring marks alleged to date from that period. If it had been used in the Bronze Age, the Picts later reused it. On one side it has a crescent and v-rod, and on the other a double disc and Z-rod with another two crescents and Z-rods below. It was being used as a lintel over a doorway in the church when it was identified in 1880.
The Portmahomack sculpture fragments are the slabs and stone fragments which have been discovered at the Easter Ross settlement of Portmahomack (Tarbat), Scotland.
The Eassie Stone is a Class II Pictish stone of about the mid 8th century AD in the village of Eassie, Angus, Scotland. The stone was found in Eassie burn in the late 18th century and now resides in a purpose-built perspex building in the ruined Eassie church.
The Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum is a permanent exhibition of 27 carved Pictish stones in the centre of the village of Meigle in eastern Scotland. It lies on the A94 road running from Coupar Angus to Forfar. The museum occupies the former parish school, built 1844. The collection of stones implies that an important church was located nearby, or perhaps a monastery. There is an early historical record of the work of Thana, son of Dudabrach, who was at Meigle in the middle of the 9th century during the reign of King Pherath. Thana was likely to have been a monk serving as a scribe in a local monastery that could have been founded in the 8th century. The stones contained in the museum were all found near Meigle, mostly in the neighbouring churchyard or used in the construction of the old church. The present church building dates to about 1870, the previous building having been destroyed in a fire on 28 March 1869. The stones were rescued by William Galloway immediately after the fire. The stones are Christian monuments to the dead of the Pictish warrior aristocracy, who are depicted on the stones bearing their weapons or hunting.
The Glamis Manse Stone, also known as Glamis 2, is a Class II Pictish stone at the village of Glamis, Angus, Scotland. Dating from the 9th century, it is located outside the Manse, close to the parish church. It is inscribed on one side with a Celtic cross and on the other with a variety of Pictish symbols. It is a scheduled monument.
Kinneddar is a small settlement on the outskirts of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, near the main entrance to RAF Lossiemouth. Long predating the modern town of Lossiemouth, Kinneddar was a major monastic centre for the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu from the 6th or 7th centuries, and the source of the important collection of Pictish stones called the Drainie Carved Stones. The Kirk of Kinneddar was the cathedral of the Diocese of Moray between 1187 and 1208, and remained an important centre of diocesan administration and residence of the Bishop of Moray through the 13th and 14th centuries.
The Monifieth Sculptured Stones are a series of five class II and III standing Pictish stones from the early Medieval period found in or around St Regulus' church in Monifieth, Angus, Scotland. Uncovered during the demolition of a pre-Reformation church and its kirkyard wall in the 19th and 20th centuries, the stones are now housed in the collection of the Museum of Scotland.
The Aberlemno Sculptured Stones are a series of five Class I and II Early Medieval standing stones found in and around the village of Aberlemno, Angus, Scotland.
St Orland's Stone is a Class II Pictish Cross-Slab at Cossans, near Kirriemuir and Forfar, Angus, Scotland
The Invereen Stone is a Class I incised Pictish stone that was unearthed near Invereen, Inverness in 1932. It is now on display at the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Burghead Bulls are a group of carved Pictish stones from the site of Burghead Fort in Moray, Scotland, each featuring an incised image of a bull. Up to 30 were discovered during the demolition of the fort to create the town of Burghead in the 19th century, but most were lost when they were used to build the harbour quayside. Six remain: two in the Visitor Centre in Burghead, two in Elgin Museum, one in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, and one in the British Museum in London.
Groam House Museum is a museum of Celtic and Pictish Art. Located in the village of Rosemarkie in the Black Isle, Scotland, its collection contains both the Rosemarkie Stone, one of the major surviving examples of Pictish art in stone, and the Rosemarkie sculpture fragments, that are 14 stone fragments, the most well known being Daniels Stone. The museum also hosts the George Bain Collection. Bain, who is considered the father of modern Celtic design, spent many years working out the intricate mathematical designs found in Celtic art.
Coordinates: 57°35′29″N4°6′48″W / 57.59139°N 4.11333°W
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