The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

Gordon Noble; Martin Goldberg; Derek Hamilton

doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.68

The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

Gordon Noble (Corresponding Author), Martin Goldberg, Derek Hamilton

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

50 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The date of unique symbolic carvings, from various contexts across north and east Scotland, has been debated for over a century. Excavations at key sites and direct dating of engraved bone artefacts have allowed for a more precise chronology, extending from the third/fourth centuries AD, broadly contemporaneous with other non-vernacular scripts developed beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire, to the ninth century AD. These symbols were probably an elaborate, non-alphabetic writing system, a Pictish response to broader European changes in power and identity during the transition from the Roman Empire to the early medieval period.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1329-1348
Number of pages	20
Journal	Antiquity
Volume	92
Issue number	365
Early online date	26 Oct 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.68
Publication status	Published - Oct 2018

Keywords

Scotland
Pictish
symbolism
carving
language
writing

Access to Document

10.15184/aqy.2018.68Licence: CC BY

The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire
© Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2018 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Final published version, 8.35 MBLicence: CC BY

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Gordon Noble
- School of Geosciences, Archaeology - Personal Chair
- Archaeology (Research Theme)
Person: Academic

Cite this

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abstract = "The date of unique symbolic carvings, from various contexts across north and east Scotland, has been debated for over a century. Excavations at key sites and direct dating of engraved bone artefacts have allowed for a more precise chronology, extending from the third/fourth centuries AD, broadly contemporaneous with other non-vernacular scripts developed beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire, to the ninth century AD. These symbols were probably an elaborate, non-alphabetic writing system, a Pictish response to broader European changes in power and identity during the transition from the Roman Empire to the early medieval period.",

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note = "Thanks go to Gail Drinkall (Orkney Museum) and our funders: Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service, Historic Environment Scotland, The Strathmartine Trust and the University of Aberdeen Development Trust. Isabel Henderson helped to refine Table 1. Fraser Hunter and Alice Blackwell read and commented on an earlier draft. The writing of this article was also supported by a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award (RL-2016-069).",

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