The Picts: A History

by Tim Clarkson

Overview

A British historian explores the mysterious Scottish culture of the Iron Age and Early Middle Ages whose enigmatic symbols adorn standing stones.

The Picts were an ancient nation who ruled most of northern and eastern Scotland during the Dark Ages. Despite their historical importance, they remain shrouded in myth and misconception. Absorbed by the kingdom of the Scots in the ninth century, they lost their unique identity, their language and their vibrant artistic culture. Among their few surviving traces are standing stones decorated with incredible skill and covered with enigmatic symbols.

The Pictish Stones offer some of the few remaining clues to the powerful and gifted people who bequeathed no chronicles to tell the sagas of their kings and heroes. In this book, Medieval historian Tim Clarkson pieces together the evidence to tell the story of this mysterious people from their emergence in Roman times to their eventual disappearance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781907909030
Publisher:	Birlinn, Limited
Publication date:	02/12/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	3,669
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Tim Clarkson is an independent researcher and historian, who previously worked in academic librarianship. He gained an MPhil in Archaeology and a PhD in medieval history, both from the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the editorial board of the Heroic Age online journal.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Genealogical Tables ix

1 A People Apart 1

2 Caledonia and Rome 9

3 The Painted People 23

4 Into the Sixth Century 46

5 Maelchons Son 67

6 Neighbours and Kinsmen 91

7 Brude and Ecgfrith 121

8 Reformers and Rivals 139

9 The Warlord 154

10 East and West 163

11 Twilight of the Picts 178

12 Legends and Legacies 195

Appendix A Kings of the Picts 207

Appendix B Pictish Timeline 209

Appendix C Some Pictish Puzzles 211

Postscript to the 2016 Edition 215

Places to Visit 231

Further Reading 233

Index 238

Editorial Reviews

'Very interesting and very readable'

Facts and Fiction

A valuable resource'

Scottish Genealogist