An important witness of the Pictish landscape of Aberlemno
It was while carrying out excavations in a farmer's field in Aberlmno, near Forfar, Scotland, that a team of archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen made an important discovery. Near one of the most important carved stone monuments ever discovered in Scotland , these fell on a carved Pictish symbol stone, measuring almost 1.7 meters long. Among them are " evidence of classical abstract Pictish symbols, triple ovals, a comb and a mirror, a crescent and a V-shank and double discs ", can we read in a press release published on the University's website. of Aberdeen .
A clue about the involvement of the Picts in the History of Scotland?
It was long considered that the expansion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms towards the north had been checked by the defeat of King Bridei Mac Bili, king of the Picts from 672 to 693, facing the Anglo-Saxon king Ecgfrith in 685. This is at least what a slab located in a nearby church in Aberlemno would depict. "The Dunnichen settlement, from which the battle is thought to be named, is a few miles from Aberlemno. In recent years researchers have suggested another potential battle site at Strathspey, but the large number of Pictish stones in 'Aberlemno certainly suggests that the surroundings of Aberlemno were an extremely important landscape for the Picts ," the statement said. The discovery of this Pictish symbolic stone is proof of this.
An archaeological artifact from the 5th or 6th century
While Pictish research has been carried out for several decades, the discovery of this symbolic stone is an event. Performed, moreover, in ideal conditions to allow further analysis, including radiocarbon dating. "There are only about 200 of these monuments known. They are sometimes dug up by farmers plowing fields or during road construction, but by the time we get to analyze them, much of what surrounds them has already been damaged ," says the professor.
The researchers will now work with the Pictish Arts Society to develop a fundraising campaign for the conservation and display of the stone.