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Chapters:
0:00 The Picts
0:49 Pictish Symbol Stones
6:27 Pictish Stones as Money?
7:12 The Picts and Scythia
9:52 Support this channel
10:14 Pictish Genetics

Pictish DNA, the Scythians and Ancient Pictish Symbol Stones

The Picts were one of the main groups of ancient Scotland from the 3rd to 9th century AD, before merging with the Gaels to form the Kingdom of Alba in 843 AD. There is much more to the Picts however. One of their origin stories says they initially came from Scythia, a region just north of the Black Sea around modern Ukraine and Russia, but is there any truth to this? And what can recent studies that looked at Pictish DNA tell us about them and their potential connection to the Scythians? This is the story of the Picts…

They first appear in the historical record in 297 AD, when a Roman writer spoke of the Picts and the Scots attacking Hadrian’s Wall. Their name, given to them by the Romans, probably means “painted people,” either because they painted themselves in battle or perhaps because they were heavily tattooed.

Firstly though, lets look at these beautiful standing stones. Today I’ve taken you to the village of Aberlemno near Forfar, the home of numerous Pictish standing stones. This is Aberlemno 1.

As far as the symbology of the stone, the top symbol looks to be a serpent, and may be a depiction of the native Scottish adder snake. In general, animals are a common feature of Pictish symbol stones. The middle symbol is much more mysterious however. It is known as the double disc and Z-rod but the meaning of this symbol is unclear. Some argue that the double disc represents a wheel of some sort, with the Z-rod perhaps serving as some sort of axis to the wheel. Another theory suggests that the disc represents stones which were used for grinding grain, with the Z-rod representing a single stalk of wheat.

There are various other theories on what the double disc and Z-rod means, and please let me know your thoughts below. I should note as well that the double disc can be found on other Pictish stones with or without the Z-rod as well. The bottom symbol is a mirror and comb, another pretty common Pictish symbol. It may simply reflect the object or it could symbolise marriage or female wealth. Others argue it has a more metaphoric meaning, such as a representation of the soul, or a reflection of life on earth.

Sources:

University of Aberdeen - Rare Pictish symbol stone found near site of famous ancient battle    • Rare Pictish symbol stone found near ...  

Aberlemno Sculptured Stones https://www.historicenvironment.scot/...

Double disc (Pictish symbol) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_...)

Aberlemno Sculptured Stones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberlem...

Pictish Beast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictish...

Battle of Dun Nechtain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...

Gordon Noble & Nicolas Evans – Picts: Scourge of Rome, Rulers of the North (Birlinn: 2022)

Bede – The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford University Press, 1994)

Morez A, Britton K, Noble G, Günther T, Götherström A, et al. (2023) Imputed genomes and haplotype-based analyses of the Picts of early medieval Scotland reveal fine-scale relatedness between Iron Age, early medieval and the modern people of the UK. PLOS Genetics 19(4): e1010360. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen....

Celtic History Decoded - Britain’s DNA: The Culture that Changed Britain Forever… Meet the Bell Beakers    • Britain’s DNA: The Culture that Chang...  

Rai stones - Wikipedia

#Picts #Pictish #history