Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time.
137-668: The Camus Cross , otherwise known as the Camuston or Camustane Cross , is an Early Medieval Scottish standing stone on the Panmure Estate near Carnoustie in Angus, Scotland . First recorded in the 15th century in a legal document describing the boundaries between Camuston and the barony of Downie, and described in the 17th century by Robert Maule, it is a freestanding cross , rare in Eastern Scotland. The cross
274-614: A Celtic toponymy. The Camus Cross is in the Downie Hills , approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of Carnoustie in Angus, Scotland . It is at the centre of a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long avenue leading east-north-east through Camuston Wood from the Panmure Testimonial to the Craigton to Carnoustie road, at ( grid reference NO519379 ). The avenue is part of Panmure Estate and leads, beyond
411-420: A masons driving hammer . Once the general shape of the statue has been determined, the sculptor uses other tools to refine the figure. A toothed chisel or claw chisel has multiple gouging surfaces which create parallel lines in the stone. These tools are generally used to add texture to the figure. An artist might mark out specific lines by using calipers to measure an area of stone to be addressed, and marking
548-549: A Bishop was operating in Orkney in the mid-9th century and more recently uncovered archaeological evidence, including explicitly Christian forms such as stone crosses, suggest that Christian practice may have survived the Viking take over in parts of Orkney and Shetland and that the process of conversion may have begun before Christianity was officially accepted by Viking leaders. The continuity of Scottish Christianity may also explain
685-415: A coarse surface. The sculptor uses broad, sweeping strokes to remove excess stone as small chips or dust. A riffler is a smaller variation of the rasp, which can be used to create details such as folds of clothing or locks of hair. The final stage of the carving process is polishing. Sandpaper can be used as a first step in the polishing process, or sand cloth. Emery, a stone that is harder and rougher than
822-428: A complex process by which kingship was gradually monopolised by a handful of the most powerful dynasties was taking place. The primary role of the king was to act as a war leader, reflected in the very small number of minority or female reigning monarchs in the period. Kings organised the defence of their people's lands, property and persons and negotiated with other kings to secure these things. If they failed to do so,
959-571: A drop in temperature and an increase in rainfall, resulting in more land becoming unproductive. Roman influence beyond Hadrian's Wall does not appear to have had a major impact on settlement patterns, with Iron Age hill forts and promontory forts continuing to be occupied through the early Medieval period. These often had defences of dry stone or timber laced walls, sometimes with a palisade . The large number of these forts has been taken to suggest peripatetic monarchies and aristocracies, moving around their domains to control and administer them. In
1096-420: A footprint carved in stone, signifying that they would follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. The kingship of the unified kingdom of Alba had Scone and its sacred stone at the heart of its coronation ceremony, which historians presume was inherited from Pictish practices. Iona, the early centre of Scottish Christianity, became the burial site of the early kings of Scotland until the eleventh century, when
1233-404: A high-prowed Pictish boat with oarsmen and a figure facing forward in the prow. Class III stones are thought to overlap chronologically with Class II stones. Most are elaborately shaped and incised cross-slabs, some with figurative scenes, but lacking idiomatic Pictish symbols. They are widely distributed but predominate in the southern Pictish areas. Metalwork has been found throughout Pictland;
1370-436: A household without the inconvenience of the partible inheritance rights that divided estates. Where there is better evidence from England and elsewhere, it was common for such slaves who survived to middle age to gain their freedom, with such freedmen often remaining clients of the families of their former masters. In the early Medieval period, British kingship was not inherited in a direct line from previous kings, as would be
1507-565: A lesser extent those from Rome and England. Celtic Christianity had its origins in the conversion of Ireland from late Roman Britain associated with St. Patrick in the 5th century. In the 6th century, monks ordained by St Patrick as missionaries such as St Kessog, son of the Irish King of Cashel, about 490 CE started his abbey halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh . Shortly after St. Columba , also Irish, formed Iona abbey; both martyrs. Subsequent monk missionaries from Ireland operated on
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#17327973168921644-716: A massive scale, carvings such as the Crazy Horse Memorial carved from the Harney Peak granite of Mount Rushmore and the Confederate Memorial Park in Albany, Georgia are produced using jet heat torches. Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself. Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of
1781-763: A military aristocracy, whose status was dependent in a large part on their ability and willingness to fight. Below the level of the aristocracy it is assumed that there were non-noble freemen , working their own small farms or holding lands as free tenants. There are no surviving law codes from Scotland in this period, but codes in Ireland and Wales indicate that freemen had the right to bear arms, represent themselves in law and to receive compensation for murdered kinsmen. Indications are that society in North Britain contained relatively large numbers of slaves, often taken in war and raids, or bought, as St. Patrick indicated
1918-512: A mission from Ireland under St. Columba founded the monastery of Iona off the west coast of Scotland, and probably began the conversion of the region to Christianity. The kingdom reached its height under Áedán mac Gabráin (r. 574–608), but its expansion was checked at the Battle of Degsastan in 603 by Æthelfrith of Northumbria . Serious defeats in Ireland and Scotland in the time of Domnall Brecc (d. 642) ended Dál Riata's golden age, and
2055-434: A respirator is sometimes needed. Basic stone carving tools fall into five categories: More advanced processes, such as laser cutting and jet torches , use sudden high temperature with a combination of cooling water to spall flakes of stone. Other modern processes may involve diamond-wire machines or other large scale production equipment to remove large sections of undesired stone. The use of chisels for stone carving
2192-414: A significantly faster rate with processes such as water erosion and diamond saw cutting. One modern stone carving technique uses a new process: The technique of applying sudden high temperature to the surface. The expansion of the top surface due to the sudden increase in temperature causes it to break away. On a small scale, Oxy-acetylene torches are used. On an industrial scale, lasers are used. On
2329-430: A system that would continue until the 18th century. The evidence of bones indicates that cattle were by far the most important domesticated animal, followed by pigs, sheep and goats, while domesticated fowl were rare. Imported goods found in archaeological sites of the period include ceramics and glass, while many sites indicate iron and precious metal working. There are almost no written sources from which to reconstruct
2466-510: A trumpet spiral decorated hanging bowl disc and a stamped animal decoration (or pressblech), perhaps from a bucket or drinking horn, indicate how Dál Riata was one of the locations where the Insular style was developed. In the 8th and 9th centuries the Pictish elite adopted true penannular brooches with lobed terminals from Ireland. Some older Irish pseudo-penannular brooches were adapted to
2603-489: A wall. At Eileach an Naoimh in the Inner Hebrides there are huts, a chapel, refectory , guest house, barns and other buildings. Most of these were made of timber and wattle construction and probably thatched with heather and turves. They were later rebuilt in stone, with underground cells and circular "beehive" huts like those used in Ireland. Similar sites have been excavated on Bute, Orkney and Shetland. From
2740-558: Is The Dream of the Rood , from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross , making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland. Stone carving Work carried out by paleolithic societies to create stone tools is more often referred to as knapping . Stone carving that is done to produce lettering is more often referred to as lettering . The process of removing stone from
2877-415: Is almost completely weathered . The antiquarian Alexander Gordon , who described the stone in 1726 in his Itinerarium Septentrionale , records this panel as holding a crucifixion scene, with the figure of a man at the right hand side and the left side completely defaced. Below this is a depiction of a centaur holding a bow, with the lowest panel having a symmetrical floral scroll design. The figures to
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#17327973168923014-461: Is commonly viewed as having been an Irish Gaelic colony in Scotland, although some archaeologists have recently argued against this. The inhabitants of Dál Riata are often referred to as Scots, from Latin scotti , a name used by Latin writers for the inhabitants of Ireland. Its original meaning is uncertain, but it later refers to Gaelic -speakers, whether from Ireland or elsewhere. In 563,
3151-568: Is difficult to carve even with iron or steel tools; usually tungsten carbide tipped tools are used, although abrasives still work well. Modern techniques often use abrasives attached to machine tools to cut the stone. Precious and semi-precious gemstones are also carved into delicate shapes for jewellery or larger items, and polished; this is sometimes referred to as lapidary , although strictly speaking lapidary refers to cutting and polishing alone. When worked, some stones release dust that can damage lungs (silica crystals are usually to blame), so
3288-467: Is evidence that conversion had begun before this point. There are a large number of isles called Pabbay or Papa in the Western and Northern Isles, which may indicate a "hermit's" or "priest's isle" from this period. Changes in patterns of grave goods and Viking place names using -kirk also suggests that Christianity had begun to spread before the official conversion. Later documentary evidence suggests that
3425-623: Is generally presumed to have resembled Celtic polytheism . The names of more than two hundred Celtic deities have been noted, some of which, like Lugh , The Dagda and The Morrigan , come from later Irish mythology, whilst others, like Teutatis , Taranis and Cernunnos , come from evidence from Gaul . The Celtic pagans constructed temples and shrines to venerate these gods, something they did through votive offerings and performing sacrifices, possibly including human sacrifice . According to Greek and Roman accounts, in Gaul, Britain and Ireland, there
3562-526: Is heard of Alt Clut or its kings until Alt Clut was besieged and captured by Vikings in 870, at which point the Clyde Britons seem to have reconstituted a kingdom based on a centre at Partick and the Clyde Britons' existing Christian centre at Govan, home of The Govan Stones . The Brythonic successor states of what is now the modern Anglo-Scottish border region are referred to by Welsh scholars as part of Yr Hen Ogledd ("The Old North"). This included
3699-662: Is more likely to indicate a bilateral system of descent, where descent was counted through both male and female lines. Scattered evidence, including the records in Irish annals and the images of warriors like those depicted on the Pictish stone slabs at Aberlemno , Forfarshire and Hilton of Cadboll in Easter Ross, suggest that in Northern Britain, as in Anglo-Saxon England, society was dominated by
3836-400: Is possible in several ways. Two are: There are many types and styles of stone carving tools, each carver will decide for themselves which tools to use. Traditionalists might use hand tools only. Powered pneumatic hammers make the hard work easier. Progress on shaping stone is faster with pneumatic carving tools. Air hammers (such as Cuturi) place many thousands of impacts per minute upon
3973-455: Is the "roughing out" stage of the sculpting process. For this task they may select a point chisel , which is a long, hefty piece of steel with a point at one end and a broad striking surface at the other. A pitching tool may also be used at this early stage; which is a wedge-shaped chisel with a broad, flat edge. The pitching tool is useful for splitting the stone and removing large, unwanted chunks. Those two chisels are used in combination with
4110-452: Is then copied with the use of a compass or proportional dividers or a pointing machine . The direct carving method is a way of carving in a more intuitive way, without first making an elaborate model. Sometimes a sketch on paper or a rough clay draft is made. Stone has been used for carving since ancient times for many reasons. Most types of stone are easier to find than metal ores, which have to be mined and smelted. Stone can be dug from
4247-494: Is thought to date from the 10th century, and exhibits distinctive Hiberno-Scottish mission influences, in common with several other monuments in the area. Tradition and folk etymology suggest that the cross marked the burial site of Camus , leader of the Norse army purportedly defeated by King Malcolm II at the apocryphal Battle of Barry . The name of the stone is likely to derive from the extinct village of Camuston , which has
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4384-674: The Battle of Gwen Ystrad attributed to Taliesin , traditionally thought to be a bard at the court of Rheged in roughly the same period. There are also religious works in Gaelic including the Elegy for St Columba by Dallan Forgaill (c. 597) and "In Praise of St Columba" by Beccan mac Luigdech of Rum (c. 677). In Latin they include a "Prayer for Protection" (attributed to St Mugint) (c. mid-6th century) and Altus Prosator ("The High Creator", attributed to St Columba) (c. 597). In Old English there
4521-651: The Battle of Dunnichen in Angus, killing their king, Ecgfrith . In the reign of Óengus mac Fergusa (729–761), the Picts appear to have reached the height of their influence, defeating the forces of Dál Riata (and probably making them a tributary), invading Alt Clut and Northumbria, and making the first known peace treaties with the English. Succeeding Pictish kings may have been able to dominate Dál Riata, with Caustantín mac Fergusa (793–820) perhaps placing his son Domnall on
4658-462: The Book of Kells , Lindisfarne Gospels , Book of Durrow . Carpet pages are a characteristic feature of Insular manuscripts, although historiated initials (an Insular invention), canon tables and figurative miniatures, especially Evangelist portraits , are also common. The finest era of the style was brought to an end by the disruption to monastic centres and aristocratic life of the Viking raids in
4795-485: The Cycladic cultures . Later cultures devised animal, human-animal and abstract forms in stone. The earliest cultures used abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs pneumatic hammers and other devices. But for most of human history, sculptors used hammer and chisel as the basic tools for carving stone. The process begins with the selection of a stone for carving. Some artists use the stone itself as inspiration;
4932-745: The Gall-Gaidel , the Norse Irish , from which the region gets the modern name Galloway . Sometime in the 9th century, the beleaguered kingdom of Dál Riata lost the Hebrides to the Vikings, when Ketil Flatnose is said to have founded the Kingdom of the Isles . These threats may have speeded a long-term process of gaelicisation of the Pictish kingdoms, which adopted Gaelic language and customs. There
5069-608: The Highlands and Islands and from the seventh century the Senchus fer n-Alban indicates that Dál Riata had a ship-muster system that obliged groups of households to produce a total of 177 ships and 2,478 men. The same source mentions the first recorded naval battle around the British Isles in 719 and eight naval expeditions between 568 and 733. The only vessels to survive from this period are dugout canoes , but images from
5206-505: The House of Canmore adopted Dunfermline , closer to Scone. At the most basic level, a king's power rested on the existence of his bodyguard or war-band. In the British language, this was called the teulu , as in teulu Dewr (the "War-band of Deira"). In Latin the word is either comitatus or tutores , or even familia ; tutores is the most common word in this period, and derives from
5343-653: The Pictish beast , everyday objects such as mirrors, combs and tuning forks and abstract symbols defined by names including V-rod, double disc and Z-rod. They are found from the Firth of Forth to Shetland. The greatest concentrations are in Sutherland, around modern Inverness and Aberdeen. Good examples include the Dunrobin (Sutherland) and Aberlemno stones ( Angus ). Class II stones are carefully shaped slabs dating after
5480-797: The Picts , although evidence has been gleaned from lists of kings, annals preserved in Wales and Ireland and from sources written down much later, which may draw on oral traditions or earlier sources. From the 7th century there is documentary evidence from Latin sources including the lives of saints, such as Adomnán 's Life of St. Columba , and Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People . Archaeological sources include settlements, art, and surviving everyday objects. Other aids to understanding in this period include onomastics (the study of names) – divided into toponymy (place-names), showing
5617-502: The Q-Celtic , from which comes Irish , Manx and Gaelic . The Pictish language remains enigmatic since the Picts had no written script of their own and all that survives are place names and some isolated inscriptions in Irish ogham script. Most modern linguists accept that, although the nature and unity of the Pictish language is unclear, it belonged to the former group. Historical sources, as well as place-name evidence, indicate how
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5754-535: The Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form trapped inside the block. Other artists begin with a form already in mind and find a stone to complement their vision. The sculptor may begin by forming a model in clay or wax, sketching the form of the statue on paper or drawing a general outline of the statue on the stone itself. When ready to carve, the artist usually begins by knocking off large portions of unwanted stone. This
5891-405: The Venus of Berekhat Ram may be as old as 250,000 years , and are carved in stones such as tuff and limestone . These earliest examples of the stone carving are the result of hitting or scratching a softer stone with a harder one, although sometimes more resilient materials such as antlers are known to have been used for relatively soft stone. Another early technique was to use an abrasive that
6028-456: The 7th. Among the key indicators of Christianisation are long- cist cemeteries that generally indicate Christian burials due to their east-west orientation, although this correlation has been challenged by recent research. These burials are found between the end of the Roman era and the 7th century, after which point they become rarer. They are concentrated strongly in eastern Scotland south of
6165-532: The Battle of Barry. Tradition, popularised in the sixteenth century by historian Hector Boece , states that Camus fled the battle scene when defeat was imminent, and was caught and slain at the point where the cross now stands. The battle, and its main protagonists, including Camus, are now known to be historically inauthentic. The name of the cross is likely to derive from the village of Camuston. No trace of this village can be seen today, and it had ceased to exist by
6302-533: The British mainland, spreading a unifying culture. St Ninian is the figure associated with a monastery founded at Whithorn in what is now Galloway, although it is generally accepted that Ninian may be a later construct. St Columba left Ireland and founded the monastery at Iona off the West Coast of Scotland in 563 and from there carried out missions to the Scots of Dál Riata and the Picts. It seems likely that both
6439-557: The Briton fortress of Dumbarton and subsequently conquered much of England except for a reduced Kingdom of Wessex , leaving the new combined Pictish and Gaelic kingdom almost encircled. The immediate descendants of Cináed were styled either as King of the Picts or King of Fortriu . They were ousted in 878 when Áed mac Cináeda was killed by Giric mac Dúngail , but returned on Giric's death in 889. When Cínaed's eventual successor Domnall mac Causantín died at Dunnottar in 900, he
6576-607: The Britons, was memorialised in the poem Y Gododdin . Ida's grandson, Æthelfrith , united Deira with his own kingdom, killing its king Æthelric to form Northumbria around 604. Ætherlric's son returned to rule both kingdoms after Æthelfrith had been defeated and killed by the East Anglians in 616, presumably bringing with him the Christianity to which he had converted while in exile. After his defeat and death at
6713-500: The Camus cross, was attributed by Maule as being the body of Camus: Not far thearfra in the bank of Camstone, the zeir of God I fywe hundrethe nyntie and aught zeiris, thear wos ane greawe fownd withe ane bread stone on eury quarter thearof efter the forme of ane malt cobile, quharin did ly the heale bons of ane man of gryt statwre, the thee bone quharof ves neir als longue as bothe the schank and thee bone of any reasonable man of this age,
6850-468: The Camuston Wood avenue. The croce standis southe and northe, sa the bread syd thear of the ane to the east and the wther to the west; that syd quhilk lowkes to the east is dewydit be mwllers of steane in thre stages; the firs and hiest part quharof is the portrait of ane man, rudlie vroght in reasit work, at the southe arme quharof as apperis, the figure of ane fowle, to the quhilk the handis neir;
6987-657: The Early Middle Ages Scotland was divided into a series of kingdoms in the Early Middle Ages , i.e. between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 AD and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900 AD. Of these, the four most important to emerge were the Picts , the Gaels of Dál Riata , the Britons of Alt Clut , and the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia . After
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#17327973168927124-624: The English or "Angles", Germanic invaders who had overrun much of southern Britain and held the Kingdom of Bernicia (later the northern part of Northumbria ), in the south-east, and who brought with them Old English . The confederation of Pictish tribes that developed north of the Firth of Forth may have stretched up as far as Orkney . It probably developed out of the tribes of the Caledonii (whose name continued to be used for at least part of
7261-641: The Gaelic for 'fort of the Britons'. The kingdom may have had its origins with the Damnonii people of Ptolemy 's Geographia . Two kings are known from near-contemporary sources in this early period. The first is Coroticus or Ceretic (Ceredig), known as the recipient of a letter from Saint Patrick , and stated by a 7th-century biographer to have been king of the Height of the Clyde, Dumbarton Rock, placing him in
7398-479: The Latin verb tueor , meaning "defend, preserve from danger". The war-band functioned as an extension of the ruler's legal person, and was the core of the larger armies that were mobilised from time to time for campaigns of significant size. In peacetime, the war-band's activity was centred on the "Great Hall". Here, in both Germanic and Celtic cultures, the feasting, drinking and other forms of male bonding that kept up
7535-603: The Northern and Western Isles the sites of Iron Age Brochs and wheel houses continued to be occupied, but were gradually replaced with less imposing cellular houses. There are a handful of major timber halls in the south, comparable to those excavated in Anglo-Saxon England and dated to the 7th century. In the areas of Scandinavian settlement in the islands and along the coast a lack of timber meant that native materials had to be adopted for house building, often combining layers of stone with turf. Place-name evidence, particularly
7672-691: The Pictish language in the north and Cumbric languages in the south were overlaid and replaced by Gaelic, English and later Norse in this period. Lacking the urban centres created under the Romans in the rest of Britain, the economy of Scotland in the Early Middle Ages was overwhelmingly agricultural. Without significant transport links and wider markets, most farms had to produce a self-sufficient diet of meat, dairy products and cereals, supplemented by hunter-gathering . Limited archaeological evidence indicates that throughout Northern Britain farming
7809-684: The Pictish style, for example, the Breadalbane Brooch (British Museum). The 8th century Monymusk Reliquary has elements of Pictish and Irish style. Insular art, or Hiberno-Saxon art, is the name given to the common style produced in Scotland, Britain and Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th century, with the combining of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon forms. Surviving examples of Insular art are found in metalwork, carving, but mainly in illuminated manuscripts . Surfaces are highly decorated with intricate patterning, with no attempt to give an impression of depth, volume or recession. The best examples include
7946-618: The Picts appear to have had a considerable amount of silver available, probably from raiding further south, or the payment of subsidies to keep them from doing so. The very large hoard of late Roman hacksilver found at Traprain Law may have originated in either way. The largest hoard of early Pictish metalwork was found in 1819 at Norrie's Law in Fife, but unfortunately, much was dispersed and melted down. Over ten heavy silver chains, some over 0.5 metres (2 ft) long, have been found from this period;
8083-571: The Picts were doing from the Britons in Southern Scotland. Slavery probably reached relatively far down in society, with most rural households containing some slaves. Because they were taken relatively young and were usually racially indistinguishable from their masters, many slaves would have been more integrated into their societies of capture than their societies of origin, in terms of both culture and language. Living and working beside their owners they in practice may have become members of
8220-435: The Scots and the Picts had already begun to convert to Christianity before this period. Saint Patrick referred in a letter to "apostate Picts", suggesting that they had previously been Christian, while the poem Y Gododdin , set in the early 6th century does not remark on the Picts as pagans. Conversion of the Pictish élite seems likely to have run over a considerable period, beginning in the 5th century and not complete until
8357-583: The Scots settlers in what is now Argyll kept close contact. This can be seen in representations found in excavations of the fortress of Dunadd, which combine Pictish and Irish elements. This included extensive evidence for the production of high-status jewellery and moulds from the 7th century that indicate the production of pieces similar to the Hunterston brooch , found in Ayrshire, but with elements that suggest Irish origins. These and other finds, including
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#17327973168928494-844: The See of Lindisfarne in Anglian Northumbria. The part of southern Scotland dominated by the Anglians in this period had a Bishopric established at Abercorn in West Lothian, and it is presumed that it would have adopted the leadership of Rome after the Synod of Whitby in 663, until the Battle of Dunnichen in 685, when the Bishop and his followers were ejected. By this time the Roman system of calculating Easter and other reforms had already been adopted in much of Ireland. The Picts accepted
8631-618: The Tay, in Angus , the Mearns , Lothian and the Borders . It is generally accepted among scholars that the place-name element eccles- , from the Brythonic word for church, represents evidence of the British church of the Roman and immediate post-Roman period, most of which are located in the south-west, south and east. About a dozen inscribed stones of the 5th and 6th centuries, beginning with
8768-442: The Viking influence waned, just as in the south the Kingdom of Wessex expanded to become the Kingdom of England . Modern Scotland is half the size of England and Wales in area, but with its many inlets, islands and inland lochs , it has roughly the same amount of coastline at 4,000 miles. Only a fifth of Scotland is less than 60 metres above sea level. Its east Atlantic position means that it experiences heavy rainfall, especially in
8905-412: The adjacent islands, later extending up the West coast in the 8th century. There is a place name and archaeological evidence of Anglian settlement in south-east Scotland reaching into West Lothian , and to a lesser extent into south-western Scotland. Later Norse settlement was probably most extensive in Orkney and Shetland, with lighter settlement in the western islands, particularly the Hebrides and on
9042-450: The arrival of Christianity in the 8th and 9th centuries, with a cross on one face and a wide range of symbols on the reverse. In smaller numbers than Class I stones, they predominate in southern Pictland, in Perth, Angus and Fife. Good examples include Glamis 2, which contains a finely executed Celtic cross on the main face with two opposing male figures, a centaur, cauldron, deer head and a triple disc symbol and Cossans, Angus, which shows
9179-543: The arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century, Scandinavian rulers and colonies were established on the islands and along parts of the coasts. In the 9th century, the House of Alpin combined the lands of the Scots and Picts to form a single kingdom which constituted the basis of the Kingdom of Scotland . Scotland has an extensive coastline, vast areas of difficult terrain and poor agricultural land. In this period, more land became marginal due to climate change, resulting in relatively light human settlement, particularly in
9316-415: The bowe dois rather appeir to be ane hand bow nor cros bowe. In the lawest and thrid rank tehar is only the draught of ane floure, weil done, wpone aa rud ane stone. On the southe and northe sydes of the sam, quhar the croce is mor narrowe, ane prettie work efter the forme that browdinsters do vse[...] Camus was the supposed leader of a Norse expeditionary force defeated by the armies of King Malcolm II at
9453-479: The case in the late Middle Ages. There were instead a number of candidates for kingship, who usually needed to be a member of a particular dynasty and to claim descent from a particular ancestor. Kingship could be multi-layered and very fluid. The Pictish kings of Fortriu were probably acting as overlords of other Pictish kings for much of this period and occasionally were able to assert an overlordship over non-Pictish kings, but occasionally themselves had to acknowledge
9590-482: The centre of the Camuston Wood avenue, facing east to west. All faces and sides are sculpted. The cross has suffered significant weathering , most notably on the west face, which has obscured some of the designs. The stone bears no idiomatic Pictish symbols and, under J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson's classification system, it is a class III stone. Intact freestanding crosses of this age are comparatively rare, perhaps because of their vulnerability to damage, and
9727-424: The confederation), perhaps as a response to the pressure exerted by the presence of the Romans to the south. They first appear in Roman records at the end of the 3rd century as the picti (the painted people: possibly a reference to their habit of tattooing their bodies) when Roman forces campaigned against them. The first identifiable king of the Picts, who seems to have exerted a superior and wide-ranging authority,
9864-504: The continent. The Viking occupation of the islands and coastal regions of modern Scotland brought a return to pagan worship in those areas. Norse paganism had some of the same gods as had been worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons before their conversion and is thought to have been focused around a series of cults, involving gods, ancestors and spirits, with calendric and life cycle rituals often involving forms of sacrifice. The paganism of
10001-466: The conversion of the Picts to Christianity from 563. In the 7th century, the Picts acquired Bridei map Beli (671–693) as a king, perhaps imposed by the kingdom of Alt Clut, where his father Beli I and then his brother Eugein I ruled. At this point the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia was expanding northwards, and the Picts were probably tributary to them until, in 685, Bridei defeated them at
10138-483: The demography of early Medieval Scotland. Estimates have been made of a population of 10,000 inhabitants in Dál Riata and 80–100,000 for Pictland. The 5th and 6th centuries likely saw higher mortality rates due to the appearance of bubonic plague, which may have reduced net population. The known conditions have been taken to suggest it was a high fertility, high mortality society, similar to many developing countries in
10275-449: The departure of the Romans it is generally presumed that Christianity would have survived among the Brythonic enclaves such as Strathclyde, but retreated as the pagan Anglo-Saxons advanced, with their gods Tiw , Woden , Thor and Frig , all of whom gave their names to days of the week, and Eostre , whose name was appropriated for the spring festival of Easter. While British Christians continued to practice inhumation without grave goods,
10412-579: The development of the Insular art style, are common across Britain and Ireland. The most impressive structures included nucleated hill forts and, after the introduction of Christianity, churches and monasteries. The period also saw the beginnings of Scottish literature in British, Old English, Gaelic and Latin languages. As the first half of the period is largely prehistoric , archaeology plays an important part in studies of early Medieval Scotland. There are no significant contemporary internal sources for
10549-410: The double-linked Whitecleuch Chain is one of only two that have a penannular ring, with symbol decoration including enamel, which shows how these were probably used as "choker" necklaces. The St Ninian's Isle Treasure contains perhaps the best collection of Pictish forms. The kingdom of Dál Riata has been seen as a crossroads between the artistic styles of the Picts and those of Ireland, with which
10686-567: The early 6th century. At some point the Angles took control of Bryneich, which became the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia ( Old English : Beornice ). The first Anglo-Saxon king in the historical record is Ida , who is said to have obtained the throne around 547. Around 600, the Gododdin raised a force of about 300 men to assault the Anglo-Saxon stronghold of Catraeth , perhaps Catterick, North Yorkshire . The battle, which ended disastrously for
10823-634: The earth is called mining or quarrying . Stone carving is one of the processes which may be used by an artist when creating a sculpture . The term also refers to the activity of masons in dressing stone blocks for use in architecture , building or civil engineering . It is also a phrase used by archaeologists , historians , and anthropologists to describe the activity involved in making some types of petroglyphs . The earliest known works of representational art are stone carvings. Often marks carved into rock or petroglyphs will survive where painted work will not. Prehistoric Venus figurines such as
10960-474: The east face are of an identical type to those on the Brechin Hogback. In the case of the Brechin Hogback, the figures are carrying objects that are characteristic of early medieval Irish monasticism . The Camus Cross is currently thought to be a late Pictish /early Gaelic era monument, dating from the 10th century. The earliest record of it is in a legal document of 1481, describing the boundary of
11097-452: The eighth century more sophisticated buildings emerged. Much of the earliest Welsh literature was composed in or near the country now called Scotland, although only written down in Wales much later. These include The Gododdin , considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland, which is attributed to the bard Aneirin , said to have been resident in Gododdin in the 6th century, and
11234-541: The hands of the Welsh and Mercians at the Battle of Hatfield Chase on 12 October 633, Northumbria again was divided into two kingdoms under pagan kings. Oswald (r. 634–42), (another son of Æthelfrith) defeated the Welsh and appears to have been recognised by both Bernicians and Deirans as king of a united Northumbria. He had converted to Christianity while in exile in Dál Riata and looked to Iona for missionaries, rather than to Canterbury. The island monastery of Lindisfarne
11371-468: The harne pan gryte, and vanted the palme bread of ane hand thearof, quhilk had beine the straik as appeirithe of ane sword, it wes thought to heawe beine Cames the chief mans bwriel. Little information of the burial exists, but goods found in the cist were kept at Brechin Castle . These were sketched by Jervise and are typical of Bronze Age artifacts, found fairly commonly in the area. Scotland in
11508-423: The interior and Highlands . Northern Britain lacked urban centres and settlements were based on farmsteads and around fortified positions such as brochs , with mixed farming primarily based on self-sufficiency. In this period, changes in settlement and colonisation meant that the Pictish and Brythonic languages began to be subsumed by Gaelic , Scots , and, at the end of the period, by Old Norse . Life expectancy
11645-509: The island of Milos , thus making a very efficient file for abrading the stone. The development of iron made possible stone carving tools, such as chisels, drills and saws made from steel , that were capable of being hardened and tempered to a state hard enough to cut stone without deforming, while not being so brittle as to shatter. Carving tools have changed little since then. Modern, industrial, large quantity techniques still rely heavily on abrasion to cut and remove stone, although at
11782-487: The kingdom became a client of Northumbria, then a subject to the Picts. There is disagreement over the fate of the kingdom from the late 8th century onwards. Some scholars argue that Dál Riata underwent a revival under king Áed Find (736–78), before the arrival of the Vikings. The kingdom of Alt Clut took its name from the Northern Brittonic for 'rock of the Clyde', today's Dumbarton Rock, which derives from
11919-536: The kingdoms of Bryneich , which may have had its capital at modern Bamburgh in Northumberland, and Gododdin , centred on Din Eidyn (what is now Edinburgh) and stretching across modern Lothian . Some " Angles " may have been employed as mercenaries along Hadrian's Wall during the late Roman period. Others are thought to have migrated north (by sea) from Deira ( Old English : Derenrice or Dere ) in
12056-612: The lands of Camuston , owned by Sir Thomas Maule, and the barony of Downy, owned by the Earl of Crawford. The boundary was described as running " a magna cruce lapidea de Cambiston " ('from the great stone cross of Camuston'). It was mentioned in the context of the Battle of Barry in Hector Boece 's Historia Gentis Scotorum in 1527, and first described in detail by the antiquarian Robert Maule, who erected it at its present position in 1620, after moving it six feet to centralise it within
12193-498: The late 8th century. The influence of Insular art affected all subsequent European Medieval art, especially in the decorative elements of Romanesque and Gothic manuscripts. For the period after the departure of the Romans, there is evidence of a series of new forts, often smaller "nucleated" constructions compared with those from the Iron Age, sometimes utilising major geographical features, as at Edinburgh and Dunbarton . All
12330-520: The lawe befor the cominge of Christ, and thearfor ar set towardis the east as representine the begininge and infancie of the world; then on the west syd in the first rank and hiest is the Crucifix. opposit to Moses, signifiinge the latter dayes to approche and the declyninge age. In the second rank wnder the Crucifix ane man on hors bak, lyand bak owir, drawand ane bowe, the head of the arrowe wery grytm that it semes rather to be ane bolt then arrowe, albeit
12467-611: The left and right are likely to have represented Longinus and Stephaton . The eastern face is usually interpreted as a depiction of Christ flanked by angels above the four evangelists , although Robert Maule, in the earliest description of the stone, described the scene as Moses giving out the Law. The carving on the Camus Cross shows distinct similarities with those on the Brechin Hogback stone and point to an Irish Ecclesiastical influence. The foliar designs on
12604-676: The mainland in Caithness, stretching along fertile river valleys through Sutherland and into Ross . There was also extensive Viking settlement in Bernicia, the Northern part of Northumbria, which stretched into the modern Borders and Lowlands . This period saw dramatic changes in the geography of language. Modern linguists divide the Celtic languages into two major groups, the P-Celtic , from which Welsh , Breton and Cornish derive and
12741-408: The men of Dál Riata and killed Domnall Brecc , grandson of Áedán, at Strathcarron. The kingdom suffered a number of attacks from the Picts under Óengus, and later the Picts' Northumbrian allies between 744 and 756. They lost the region of Kyle in the southwest of modern Scotland to Northumbria, and the last attack may have forced the king Dumnagual III to submit to his neighbours. After this, little
12878-515: The modern world, with a relatively young demographic profile, and perhaps early childbearing, and large numbers of children for women. This would have meant that there was a relatively small proportion of available workers to the number of mouths to feed. This would have made it difficult to produce a surplus that would allow demographic growth and more complex societies to develop. The primary unit of social organisation in Germanic and Celtic Europe
13015-409: The movement of languages, and the sequence in which different languages were spoken in an area, and anthroponymy (personal names), which can offer clues to relationships and origins. By the time of Bede and Adomnán, in the late seventh century and early eighth century, four major circles of influence had emerged in northern Britain. In the east were the Picts, whose kingdoms eventually stretched from
13152-404: The north and south edges, originally seen as Ringerike -like (and hence, Scandinavian in origin), consist of tendrils and volutes with "wave-crest" thickening. These features bear closest similarity with Irish insular art of the late tenth century, and the treatment of the symmetrical foliar scroll design on the lower portion of the west face is diagnostically Irish. The full-face figures on
13289-554: The northern British peoples utilised different forms of fort and the determining factors in construction were local terrain, building materials, and politico-military needs. The first identifiable king of the Picts, Bridei mac Maelchon had his base at the fort of Craig Phadrig near modern Inverness . The Gaelic overkingdom of Dál Riata was probably ruled from the fortress of Dunadd now near Kilmartin in Argyll and Bute . The introduction of Christianity into Scotland from Ireland from
13426-530: The only ones in Eastern Scotland are the Camus Cross and the Dupplin Cross in Strathearn. Fragmentary remains of other crosses include heads found at Forteviot , St Vigeans and Strathmartine and shaft fragments found at Monifieth , Abernethy , Carpow and Invermay , as well as some socketed stones where crosses once stood. The western face is divided into three sections. The uppermost section
13563-449: The overlordship of external rulers, both Anglian and British. Such relationships may have placed obligations to pay tribute or to supply armed forces. After a victory, sub-kings may have received rewards in return for this service. Interaction with and intermarriage into the ruling families of subject kingdoms may have opened the way to the absorption of such sub-kingdoms and, although there might be later overturnings of these mergers, likely,
13700-546: The pagan Anglo-Saxons are visible in the archaeological record from their practice of cremation and burial in urns, accompanied by extensive grave goods, perhaps designed to accompany the dead to the afterlife. However, despite growing evidence of Anglian settlement in southern Scotland, only one such grave has been found, at Dalmeny in East Lothian. The growth of Christianity in Scotland has been traditionally seen as dependent on Irish-Scots "Celtic" missionaries and to
13837-525: The period suggest that there may have been skin boats (similar to the Irish currach ) and larger oared vessels. The Viking raids and invasions of the British Isles were based on superior sea power. The key to their success was a graceful, long, narrow, light, wooden boat with a shallow draft hull designed for speed. This shallow draft allowed navigation in waters only 3 feet (1 m) deep and permitted beach landings, while its light weight enabled it to be carried over portages . Longships were also double-ended,
13974-558: The reforms of Rome under Nechtan mac Der-Ilei around 710. The followers of Celtic traditions retreated to Iona and then to Innishbofin and the Western isles remained an outpost of Celtic practice for some time. Celtic Christianity continued to influence religion in England and across Europe into the late Middle Ages as part of the Hiberno-Scottish mission , spreading Christianity, monasteries, art and theological ideas across
14111-419: The relatively high proportion of kings who are recorded as dying in fires or drowning suggest that sieges were a more important part of warfare in Northern Britain. Sea power may also have been important. Irish annals record an attack by the Picts on Orkney in 682, which must have necessitated a large naval force: they also lost 150 ships in a disaster in 729. Ships were also vital in the amphibious warfare in
14248-436: The relatively rapid way in which Norse settlers were later assimilated into the religion. From the 5th to the mid-9th centuries the art of the Picts is primarily known through stone sculpture, and a smaller number of pieces of metalwork, often of very high quality. After the conversion of the Picts and the cultural assimilation of Pictish culture into that of the Scots and Angles, elements of Pictish art became incorporated into
14385-416: The removal area with pencil, charcoal or chalk. The stone carver generally uses a shallower stroke at this point in the process, usually in combination with a wooden mallet . Eventually the sculptor has changed the stone from a rough block into the general shape of the finished statue. Tools called rasps and rifflers are then used to enhance the shape into its final form. A rasp is a flat, steel tool with
14522-582: The river Forth to Shetland. In the west were the Gaelic ( Goidelic )-speaking people of Dál Riata with their royal fortress at Dunadd in Argyll, with close links with the island of Ireland, from which they brought with them the name "Scots", originally a term for the inhabitants of Ireland. In the south was the British ( Brythonic ) Kingdom of Alt Clut , descendants of the peoples of the Roman-influenced kingdoms of " The Old North ". Finally, there were
14659-457: The road, to the former site of Panmure House . The freestanding cross is carved from Old Red Sandstone and stands 2 metres (6.6 ft) high, approximately 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) wide at the base, 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) wide at the arms, and approximately 0.2 metres (0.66 ft) thick. It stands on a low earth mound, 7.5 metres (25 ft) wide (east to west), 4.5 metres (15 ft) wide (north to south) and 1 metre (3.3 ft) high, in
14796-551: The ruling Norse elite can be seen in goods found in 10th century graves in Shetland, Orkney and Caithness. There is no contemporary account of the conversion of the Vikings in Scotland to Christianity. Historians have traditionally pointed to a process of conversion to Christianity among Viking colonies in Britain dated to the late 10th century, for which later accounts indicate that Viking earls accepted Christianity. However, there
14933-433: The sculpture media, is also used in the finishing process. This abrading, or wearing away, brings out the color of the stone, reveals patterns in the surface and adds a sheen. Tin and iron oxides are often used to give the stone a highly reflective exterior. Sculptures can be carved via either the direct or the indirect carving method. Indirect carving is a way of carving by using an accurate clay, wax or plaster model, which
15070-469: The second half of the 5th century. From Patrick's letter it is clear that Ceretic was a Christian, and it is likely that the ruling class of the area were also Christians, at least in name. His descendant Rhydderch Hael is named in Adomnán 's Life of Saint Columba . After 600, information on the Britons of Alt Clut becomes more common in the sources. In 642, led by Eugein son of Beli , they defeated
15207-470: The second sectione or stage hes tua pourtraits of men lyk to the first, vithe the forme of ane quadrat or four noket breist plat on thear breist, lyk wnto that quhar withe Moses is painted, in the quhilk wes ingrawen the nems of the tuel tribes of Israel, and lykuayes the lawest and thrid rank efter the sam maner. On thear heads thay heawe clos bonnets twrnand hard thearto, quhilk appeirandly is Moses representine
15344-578: The settlements might be raided, destroyed or annexed, and the populations killed or taken into slavery. Kings also engaged in the low-level warfare of raiding and the more ambitious full-scale warfare that led to conflicts of large armies and alliances, and which could be undertaken over relatively large distances, such as the expedition to Orkney by Dál Riata in 581 or the Northumbrian attack on Ireland in 684. Kingship had its ritual aspects. The kings of Dál Riata were inaugurated by putting their foot in
15481-457: The sixth century, led to the construction of the first churches. These may originally have been wooden, like that excavated at Whithorn , but most of those for which evidence survives from this era are basic masonry-built churches, beginning on the west coast and islands and spreading south and east. Early chapels tended to have square-ended converging walls, similar to Irish chapels of this period. Medieval parish church architecture in Scotland
15618-428: The so-called Latinus stone of Whithorn , dating to c. 450, indicate Christianity through their dedications and are spread across southern Scotland. Celtic Christianity differed in some respects from that based on Rome, most importantly on the issues of how Easter was calculated and the method of tonsure , but there were also differences in the rites of ordination , baptism and in the liturgy . Celtic Christianity
15755-476: The style known as Insular art , which was common over Britain and Ireland and became highly influential in continental Europe and contributed to the development of Romanesque styles. About 250 Pictish stones survive and have been assigned by scholars to three classes. Class I stones are those thought to date to the period up to the 7th century and are the most numerous group. The stones are largely unshaped and include incised symbols of animals including fish and
15892-535: The surface and carved with hand tools. Stone is more durable than wood, and carvings in stone last much longer than wooden artifacts. Stone comes in many varieties and artists have abundant choices in color, quality and relative hardness. Soft stone such as chalk , soapstone , pumice and Tufa can be easily carved with found items such as harder stone or in the case of chalk even the fingernail. Limestones and marbles can be worked using abrasives and simple iron tools. Granite , basalt and some metamorphic stone
16029-402: The symmetrical bow and stern allowing the ship to reverse direction quickly without having to turn around. Very little is known about religion in Scotland before the arrival of Christianity. The lack of native written sources among the Picts means that it can only be judged from parallels elsewhere, occasional surviving archaeological evidence and hostile accounts of later Christian writers. It
16166-414: The throne from 811. The Gaelic overkingdom of Dál Riata was on the western coast of modern Scotland, with some territory on the northern coasts of Ireland. It probably ruled from the fortress of Dunadd, now near Kilmartin in Argyll and Bute . In the late 6th and early 7th centuries, it encompassed roughly what is now Argyll and Bute and Lochaber in Scotland, and also County Antrim in Ireland. Dál Riata
16303-419: The time of the first Ordnance Survey map, published in 1888, but surveyed in 1857 to 1859. Its former location is indicated in the 1794 map by Ainslie, about half a mile to the east of the cross. Camuston can be found with earlier spelling variations, for example, 'Cambistown' as it is called in documents from 1425 and 1426, and has a Celtic rather than Scandinavian etymology. A burial disinterred in 1598, near
16440-631: The two kingdoms were divided again, with Deira possibly having sub-kings under Bernician authority, but from this point the English kings were Christian and after the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Northumbrian kings accepted the primacy of Canterbury and Rome. In the late 7th century, the Northumbrians extended their influence north of the Forth, until they were defeated by the Picts at the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685. The balance between rival kingdoms
16577-475: The use of the prefix "pit", meaning land or a field, suggests that the heaviest areas of Pictish settlement were in modern Fife , Perthshire , Angus , Aberdeen and around the Moray Firth , although later Gaelic migration may have erased some Pictish names from the record. Early Gaelic settlement appears to have been in the regions of the western mainland of Scotland between Cowal and Ardnamurchan , and
16714-510: The vicinity of Hadrian's Wall. The archaeology of the Roman period indicates that the northern parts of the Roman province of Britannia were among the most Christianized in the island. Chi-Rho inscriptions and Christian grave slabs have been found on the wall from the 4th century, and from the same period the Mithraic shrines (known as Mithraea ) which existed along Hadrian's Wall were attacked and destroyed, presumably by Christians. After
16851-664: The war-band's integrity would take place. In the epic poem Beowulf , the war-band was said to sleep in the Great Hall after the lord had retired to his adjacent bed chamber. It is not likely that any war-band in the period exceeded 120–150 men, as no hall structure having a capacity larger than this has been found by archaeologists in northern Britain. Pictish stones, like that at Aberlemno in Angus, show mounted and foot warriors with swords, spears, bows, helmets and shields. The large number of hill forts in Scotland may have made open battle less important than in Anglo-Saxon England and
16988-423: The west. This encouraged the spread of blanket peat bog , the acidity of which, combined with high levels of wind and salt spray, made most of the islands treeless. The existence of hills, mountains, quicksands and marshes made internal communication and conquest extremely difficult and may have contributed to the fragmented nature of political power. The Early Middle Ages were a period of climate deterioration, with
17125-470: The worship of well spirits was a feature of Pictish paganism. Roman mentions of the worship of the Goddess Minerva at wells and a Pictish stone associated with a well near Dunvegan Castle on Skye have been taken to support this case. The roots of Christianity in Scotland can probably be found among the soldiers, notably Saint Kessog , son of the king of Cashel , and ordinary Roman citizens in
17262-466: Was Bridei mac Maelchon ( r. c. 550–84 ). His power was based in the kingdom of Fidach, and his base was at the fort of Craig Phadrig , near modern Inverness . After his death, leadership seems to have shifted to the Fortriu , whose lands were centred on Moray and Easter Ross and who raided along the eastern coast into modern England. Christian missionaries from Iona appear to have begun
17399-464: Was a priestly caste of " magico-religious specialists" known as the druids , although very little is definitely known about them. Irish legends about the origin of the Picts and stories from the life of St. Ninian , associate the Picts with druids. The Picts are also associated with "demon" worship and one story concerning St Columba has him exorcising a demon from a well in Pictland, suggesting that
17536-443: Was also a merger of the Gaelic and Pictish crowns, although historians debate whether it was a Pictish takeover of Dál Riata, or the other way around. This culminated in the rise of Cínaed mac Ailpín (Kenneth MacAlpin) in the 840s, which brought to power the House of Alpin , who became the leaders of a combined Gaelic-Pictish kingdom. In 867 the Vikings seized Northumbria, forming the Kingdom of York ; three years later they stormed
17673-493: Was based around a single homestead or a small cluster of three or four homes, each probably containing a nuclear family, with relationships likely to be common among neighbouring houses and settlements, reflecting the partition of land through inheritance. Farming became based around a system that distinguished between the infield around the settlement, where crops were grown every year and the outfield, further away and where crops were grown and then left fallow in different years, in
17810-575: Was founded in 635 by the Irish monk Saint Aidan , who had been sent from Iona at the request of King Oswald. It became the seat of the Bishop of Lindisfarne , which stretched across Northumbria. In 638 Edinburgh was attacked by the English and at this point, or soon after, the Gododdin territories in Lothian and around Stirling came under the rule of Bernicia. After Oswald's death fighting the Mercians,
17947-455: Was heavily based on monasticism. Monasteries differed significantly from those on the continent, and were often an isolated collection of wooden huts surrounded by a wall. Because much of the Celtic world lacked the urban centres of the Roman world, bishoprics were often attached to abbeys. In the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, Irish monks established monastic institutions in parts of modern-day Scotland. Monks from Iona, under St. Aidan , then founded
18084-424: Was relatively low, leading to a young population, with a ruling aristocracy, freemen , and relatively large numbers of slaves. Kingship was multi-layered, with different kings surrounded by their warbands that made up the most important elements of armed forces, and who engaged in both low-level raiding and occasional longer-range, major campaigns. Some highly distinctive monumental and ornamental art, culminating in
18221-485: Was rubbed on the stone to remove the unwanted area. Prior to the discovery of steel by any culture, all stone carving was carried out by using an abrasion technique, following rough hewing of the stone block using hammers. The reason for this is that bronze , the hardest available metal until steel, is not hard enough to work any but the softest stone. The Ancient Greeks used the ductility of bronze to trap small granules of carborundum , that are naturally occurring on
18358-469: Was the first man to be recorded as rí Alban (i.e. King of Alba ). Such an apparent innovation in the Gaelic chronicles is occasionally taken to spell the birth of Scotland, but there is nothing extant from or about his reign that might confirm this. Known in Gaelic as " Alba ", in Latin as " Scotia ", and in English as "Scotland", his kingdom was the nucleus from which the Scottish kingdom would expand as
18495-423: Was the kin group. The mention of descent through the female line in the ruling families of the Picts in later sources and the recurrence of leaders clearly from outside of Pictish society, has led to the conclusion that their system of descent was matrilineal . However, this has been challenged by a number of historians who argue that the clear evidence of awareness of descent through the male line suggests that this
18632-588: Was transformed in 793 when ferocious Viking raids began on monasteries like Iona and Lindisfarne, creating fear and confusion across the kingdoms of North Britain. Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles eventually fell to the Norsemen. The king of Fortriu, Eógan mac Óengusa , and the king of Dál Riata, Áed mac Boanta , were among the dead after a major defeat by the Vikings in 839. A mixture of Viking and Gaelic Irish settlement in south-west Scotland produced
18769-506: Was typically much less elaborate than in England, with many churches remaining simple oblongs, without transepts and aisles , and often without towers. In the Highlands, they were often even simpler, many built of rubble masonry and sometimes indistinguishable from the outside from houses or farm buildings. Monasteries also differed significantly from those on the continent, and were often an isolated collection of wooden huts surrounded by
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