Pictish stones

The most visible evidence of Pictish culture is the carved stone monuments ubiquitous in the Scottish landscape from Tayside to Caithness. While the symbols on the earliest stones still defy our understanding the later monuments with Christian images and hunting scenes tell us much about Pictish society and culture. To provide a context for our studies we shall first ask, who were the Picts and what were their relations with their neighbours?

Philip Holdsworth is an archaeologist and historian of the Early Middle Ages specialising in the art, history and culture of the British Isles & Ireland c. 400-1100.

He read Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic at the University of Cambridge and has headed research units in England and Scotland. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He has taught courses on Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and onLaws of the Anglo-Saxon Kings at the U3A Summer School, Cirencester and is a member of the Penmaenmawr U3A.