Tullich Aberdeenshire: a reappraisal of an early ecclesiastical site and its carved stones in the light of recent excavations

Jane Geddes, Hilary K Murray, J Charles Murray

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Abstract

Long known as an early church site, the importance of Tullich in Aberdeenshire may often have been underestimated. An evaluation and excavation were undertaken prior to the extension of the modern graveyard which have produced evidence of both inner and outer enclosures around the church that yielded good radiocarbon dates for development of the site in the 7th to 9th centuries and for continued activity in the medieval period. Two early grave markers were found during the excavation bringing the present total of carved stones from the site to 16 cross marked slabs and a Pictish symbol stone, a quantity which makes Tullich unique in Aberdeenshire and strongly indicates a religious community established by the late 7th century. The newly discovered crosses have prompted a reappraisal of the full corpus of early medieval carved stones from the site.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)229-281
Number of pages53
JournalProceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Volume145
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Apr 2016

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Bruce Mann of Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service for his support throughout and for funding Area F and
Historic Scotland for granting SMC for the excavation of Area A. Thanks are due to the tenant farmer Allan Adams and to Helen Rickwood, Jan Dunbar, Colin
Mitchell, Sheila Young, Emma Gibson, Veronica Ross, Irvine Ross, Brian Dewar and Sheila Duthie for their work on site. We are grateful to Ian Cameron for
help in gathering oral history of some of the crosses found in the 1950s/60s. John Borland, Katherine Forsyth, Simon Taylor and Ross Trench-Jellicoe have
provided valuable comments on the sculpture.
We would like to thank Invercauld Estate for access to their archive and permission to photograph and reproduce the Scroll Plan, and their honorary
archivist, Sheila Sedgwick for her help and patience.
We are grateful to Nigel Trewin for identification of the geology of the crosses.
The drawings of Tullich 16 and 17 are by Jan Dunbar.

This paper is published with the aid of a grant from Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service

Keywords

  • Tullich
  • Pictish Sculpture
  • Early Christian
  • Church
  • St Nathalan

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