# The Pictish symbol stones > About 200 carved stones in northern and eastern Scotland carry a fixed repertoire of abstract and animal symbols, usually in pairs, made by the Picts in… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:04+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CQHAB5Y2G59·Mystery · script # The Pictish symbol stones **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=pictish-symbols) The Pictish symbol stones ![User's photograph.](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/pictish-symbols-lead) Deacon of Pndapetzim · CC BY-SA 2.5 Where Northern and eastern Scotland, between the Forth and Shetland⁠[[1]] Number of stones About 200 known symbol stones⁠[[2]] Earliest dates Third to fourth century AD (Dunnicaer); fifth century in the Northern Isles⁠[[6]] Standard classification Class I (symbols only), Class II (symbols with cross), Class III (cross without symbols)⁠[[10]] Corpus catalogue The Pictish Symbol Stones of Scotland (RCAHMS, 2008)⁠[[1]] Statistical claim 2010 entropy study: symbols behave like written language⁠[[4]] Status Partly explained Questions 1 of 4 answered People [**Rob Lee** Lead author of the 2010 entropy studies](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHADC87GPF/rob-lee)[**Richard Sproat** Computational linguist; critic of entropy-based writing claims](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHADM20XBV/richard-sproat)[**Gordon Noble** Archaeologist, University of Aberdeen; dating and excavation](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHADVW2WHA/gordon-noble)[**J. Romilly Allen** Co-author of the 1903 classification](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHACD070NF/j-romilly-allen)[**Joseph Anderson** Co-author of the 1903 classification](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHACMT58AA/joseph-anderson) All 7 people › [**Ross Samson** Proposed the personal-names reading](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHAD4E3W7V/ross-samson)[**Charles Thomas** Archaeologist; 1963 interpretation of the symbols](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/people/FIG0CQHACWM4GH6/charles-thomas) Catalog key**MYS** 0CQHAB5Y2G59 The Picts were the people of northern and eastern Scotland in the late Roman and early medieval periods. Their most distinctive remains are stones carved with symbols: a crescent crossed by a V-shaped rod, a double disc crossed by a Z-shaped rod, a comb and mirror, a fish, a snake, a beast often called the Pictish beast, and a few dozen others⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. About 200 such stones are known⁠[[2]]. The same symbols, drawn to the same conventions, appear across northern and eastern Scotland, and on silver ornaments and cave walls as well as stone⁠[[1]]⁠[[3]]. Most stones carry one to three symbols, typically a pair, sometimes with a comb and mirror added, and Lee and colleagues reported regularities in how symbols combine⁠[[4]]⁠[[3]]. That regularity is why many scholars think the symbols record something specific, and the most common proposal is personal names⁠[[5]]⁠[[6]]. Others have treated them as emblems that need not encode words⁠[[7]]. In 2010 Rob Lee, Philip Jonathan and Pauline Ziman argued from a measure of information entropy that the symbol sequences have the statistics of written language, not of heraldry or random marks⁠[[4]]. Richard Sproat disputed the method, and in 2014, testing on a larger set of written and non-linguistic corpora, found that the best-performing measures classify the Pictish symbols as non-linguistic⁠[[8]]⁠[[9]]. In 2018 Gordon Noble and colleagues published radiocarbon dates showing that the symbols were in use by the third or fourth century AD, centuries earlier than had been assumed⁠[[6]]. Of the 4 questions on this site, 1 are answered. The most likely answer to “Are the Pictish symbols a writing system?”, not yet confirmed: the symbols are emblems of rank, kin group, office or territory that do not encode words. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Are the Pictish symbols a writing system?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAG263DNY/are-the-pictish-symbols-a-writing-system)Most likely: the symbols are emblems of rank, kin group, office or territory that do not encode words [**When did the symbol system begin?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAGHT0ND4/when-did-the-symbol-system-begin)Answered: the system was in use by the third to fourth century AD. [All 4 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=pictish-symbols) ## The object The stones were classified in 1903 by J. Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson into three groups that are still used: Class I, undressed boulders or slabs incised with symbols only; Class II, dressed slabs carved in relief with a cross and symbols; and Class III, cross-slabs without the symbols⁠[[10]]. The national catalogue, The Pictish Symbol Stones of Scotland, published by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland in 2008, lists every known stone with photographs and locations⁠[[1]]. Each stone also has a record in Canmore, the national record of the historic environment, maintained by Historic Environment Scotland⁠[[11]]. [![The Serpent Stone (Aberlemno 1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/pictish-symbols-a-aberlemno-1-c0)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARKM01XH/the-serpent-stone-aberlemno-1) The Serpent Stone (Aberlemno 1)JThomas. CC BY-SA 2.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARKM01XH/the-serpent-stone-aberlemno-1) [![First page of The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (Allen and Anderson, 1903)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/fc1fb38ba7c5f477818119cbc11f8816a9abacf3ebf83bee7d8095333d1a283b/p1)578 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHATSY1KFY/the-early-christian-monuments-of-scotland-allen-and-anderson) The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (Allen and Anderson, 1903)J. Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson; scan by the Getty Research Institute, 1903. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHATSY1KFY/the-early-christian-monuments-of-scotland-allen-and-anderson) New stones still turn up. In 2022 a team led by Gordon Noble of the University of Aberdeen excavated a symbol stone at Aberlemno in Angus, carved with triple ovals, a comb and mirror, a crescent and V-rod and double discs, some cut over others; it had been reused as paving in an eleventh- or twelfth-century building⁠[[2]]⁠[[12]]. **Map of the region** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/map) [Region][Region] [+][−] 1 **Aberlemno, Angus** Village with symbol stones Within 100 m 2 **Northern and eastern Scotland (Pictland)** Region A region 3 **Dunnicaer, near Stonehaven** Promontory fort Within 100 m 4 **Rhynie, Aberdeenshire** High-status settlement with symbol stones Within 100 m MappedA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What is known The symbol inventory is small and stable. Lee and colleagues built a pictorial corpus of every symbol on stones, metalwork and caves, defined a catalogue of symbol types from it, and found the corpus to be short (one to three symbols per stone) and small, under a thousand symbols in all⁠[[4]]⁠[[3]]. The dating changed in 2018. Earlier art-historical work placed the start of the system in the sixth or seventh century AD. Noble, Goldberg and Hamilton dated symbol-bearing contexts directly: the carvings from the promontory fort of Dunnicaer near Stonehaven came from a settlement at its height in the third to fourth centuries AD; bone objects and settlement layers in the Northern Isles showed the symbols in use in the fifth century; and Bayesian modelling dated the fort at Rhynie, with its symbol stones, to the late fourth to early sixth century⁠[[6]]⁠[[13]]. The authors argued that the symbols formed a naming system that developed at the same time as Irish ogham and Scandinavian runes, beyond the Roman frontier⁠[[6]]. Excavation at Rhynie had already linked symbol stones to a high-status settlement⁠[[14]]. [![The Dunnicaer carved stones](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/c15c2499983f4063e5043cac8c1b1012577ad8fa520c861194b1be876b7beed9/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARBT2PV1/the-dunnicaer-carved-stones) The Dunnicaer carved stonesAlexander Thomson, 1856. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARBT2PV1/the-dunnicaer-carved-stones) [![The Rhynie symbol stones](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/pictish-symbols-a-rhynie-stones-m1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARKM4HD3/the-rhynie-symbol-stones) The Rhynie symbol stonesColin Smith. CC BY-SA 2.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARKM4HD3/the-rhynie-symbol-stones) ## What has been tested The main computational test is the 2010 entropy study. Lee, Jonathan and Ziman built a two-parameter decision tree, based in part on bigram conditional entropy, that sorts small symbol corpora by the kind of communication system they come from, calibrated on known writing systems and non-linguistic sets. It placed the Pictish symbols with writing and not with random or heraldic systems⁠[[4]]⁠[[9]]. A longer companion paper concluded that the symbols are most likely words and mostly names⁠[[3]]. The method was challenged at once. A linguist's comment argued that turning carvings into linear symbol strings and the features of archaic writing systems could bias the result, that the line between writing and drawing is less sharp than the method assumes, and that the conclusion remained pending⁠[[15]]; the authors replied⁠[[16]]. Sproat questioned the method and the review practices of general science journals that published such claims⁠[[8]]; Lee and colleagues responded⁠[[17]]. In 2014 Sproat tested the published measures on a larger set of written and non-linguistic corpora and found none of them useful as published. One of Lee's measures with a different cut-off, and a new measure based on repetition, did separate the two groups, and both classified the Pictish symbols as non-linguistic⁠[[9]]. ## The readings Three readings are live. The first is that the symbols are a writing system for names. Ross Samson argued in 1992 that the paired symbols record personal names; the 2010 statistics and the 2018 dating were read in the same direction⁠[[5]]⁠[[3]]⁠[[6]]. The second is that they are emblems, standing for rank, kin group, office or territory without encoding words, which is consistent with Sproat's 2014 classification⁠[[7]]⁠[[9]]. The third, that they are decoration or religious images without a fixed meaning, is hard to square with the strict conventions and pairing⁠[[4]]. Readings of individual symbols, for example the crescent and V-rod as a name element or a rank, have not been tested in a way that could fail. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1903 | J. Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson⁠[10] | Pictish stones fall into three classes in date order: symbols alone (Class I), symbols with a relief cross (Class II), and crosses without symbols (Class III). | Disputed | The classes are still used as labels, but Class I and Class II stones are now thought to have been made over overlapping periods⁠[18]. | | 1963 | Charles Thomas⁠[7] | The symbols are a non-alphabetic system of emblems with roots in Iron Age art, not a form of writing. | Most likely | Sproat's 2014 test classes the symbols as non-linguistic, which fits, but nothing yet shows what the emblems stood for⁠[9]. | | 1984 | Anthony Jackson⁠[19] | Each symbol pair records a marriage alliance between matrilineal lineages. | Still possible | It has not been tested, and the purpose of the stones is still only slightly understood⁠[18]. | | 1992 | Ross Samson⁠[5] | The paired symbols are a writing system that records personal names. | Disputed | The 2018 dating fits a naming system that arose beside ogham and runes, but the best statistical test classes the symbols as non-linguistic⁠[6]⁠[9]. | | 2010 | Rob Lee, Philip Jonathan and Pauline Ziman⁠[4] | An entropy-based decision tree shows the symbol sequences have the statistics of written language, not of heraldry or random marks. | Disputed | Tested on a larger set of written and non-linguistic corpora, the published measures did not separate the two reliably⁠[9]. | | 2014 | Richard Sproat⁠[9] | The published measures cannot tell writing from non-linguistic symbols, and the measures that can classify the Pictish symbols as non-linguistic. | Most likely | It rests on many more test corpora than the 2010 study, but the Pictish corpus is under a thousand symbols, which limits any statistic⁠[3]. | | 2018 | Gordon Noble, Martin Goldberg and Derek Hamilton⁠[6] | Radiocarbon dates show the symbols were in use by the third or fourth century AD, centuries earlier than art-historical dating allowed. | Accepted | Dates from Dunnicaer, the Northern Isles and Rhynie agree, and Rhynie's excavation had already tied symbol stones to a fifth to sixth-century high-status site⁠[14]. | ## What would settle it A bilingual would settle it: a stone with symbols and a Latin or ogham inscription naming the same person. Short of that, two tests can be run. One is whether symbol pairs pattern like name elements, with constraints on which symbol takes first and second place similar to those in recorded Pictish and Celtic names. The other is a corrected version of the statistical test, run with a null model built from non-linguistic emblem systems of similar size and pairing structure, which would show whether the 2010 result survives Sproat's objection. Systematic radiocarbon dating of more symbol-bearing contexts would show how the inventory changed over time. ## Questions 1 of 4 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=pictish-symbols) **0** [Are the Pictish symbols a writing system?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAG263DNY/are-the-pictish-symbols-a-writing-system) 0 of 2 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the symbols are emblems of rank, kin group, office or territory that do not encode words **0** [When did the symbol system begin?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAGHT0ND4/when-did-the-symbol-system-begin) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Answered: The system was in use by the third to fourth century AD. ## Evidence 12 findings [Are the Pictish symbols a writing system?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAG263DNY/are-the-pictish-symbols-a-writing-system)6 findings [The symbols are a writing system, used mainly to record personal names.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAH1E1C2V/the-symbols-are-a-writing-system-used-mainly-to-record)Disputed +[The 2010 entropy test classed the symbols with writing and not with random or heraldic systems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAH986YQ0/the-2010-entropy-test-classed-the-symbols-with-writing-and)Suggestive +[The 2018 dating places the system alongside ogham and runes and its authors read it as a naming system.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAHH24Q6F/the-2018-dating-places-the-system-alongside-ogham-and-runes)Suggestive −[Two measures that do separate linguistic from non-linguistic corpora classify the Pictish symbols as non-linguistic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAHRW4W69/two-measures-that-do-separate-linguistic-from-non-linguistic)Supported [The symbols are emblems of rank, kin group, office or territory that do not encode words.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAJ0P15PN/the-symbols-are-emblems-of-rank-kin-group-office-or)Most likely +[Repetition-based and corrected entropy measures place the Pictish corpus with non-linguistic systems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAJ8G1KCB/repetition-based-and-corrected-entropy-measures-place-the)Supported +[Symbol stones occur at high-status sites such as Rhynie.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAJGA61E2/symbol-stones-occur-at-high-status-sites-such-as-rhynie)Speculative [The symbols are decoration or religious imagery without fixed referential meaning.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAJR435W1/the-symbols-are-decoration-or-religious-imagery-without)Disputed −[The same symbols, drawn to the same conventions and mostly in pairs, recur across the whole area.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAJZY02VG/the-same-symbols-drawn-to-the-same-conventions-and-mostly-in)Established [Can corpus statistics tell whether a small symbol corpus like the Pictish one is language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAGA07V40/can-corpus-statistics-tell-whether-a-small-symbol-corpus)3 findings [A calibrated entropy decision tree can classify small symbol corpora by type, and it shows the Pictish…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAKFJ689W/a-calibrated-entropy-decision-tree-can-classify-small-symbol)Disputed +[The authors' decision tree separated their own calibration corpora of known writing and non-linguistic systems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAKQC6HA2/the-authors-decision-tree-separated-their-own-calibration)Suggestive [The published measures do not reliably separate writing from non-linguistic systems; better measures exist…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAKZ6712B/the-published-measures-do-not-reliably-separate-writing-from)Most likely +[None of the previously proposed methods were useful as published on the larger comparison set.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAM702T47/none-of-the-previously-proposed-methods-were-useful-as)Supported +[Linearising carvings into strings and archaic-script features may bias such tests.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAMET3VHX/linearising-carvings-into-strings-and-archaic-script)Suggestive [When did the symbol system begin?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/questions/QST0CQHAGHT0ND4/when-did-the-symbol-system-begin)3 findings [The system was in use by the third to fourth century AD.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHAN683C69/the-system-was-in-use-by-the-third-to-fourth-century-ad)Most likely +[Dunnicaer's carvings come from a fort at its height in the third to fourth centuries AD.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHANE27FRD/dunnicaers-carvings-come-from-a-fort-at-its-height-in-the)Supported +[Bone objects and settlement layers in the Northern Isles show the symbols in use in the fifth century.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHANNW7382/bone-objects-and-settlement-layers-in-the-northern-isles)Supported [The system began in the sixth or seventh century AD.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/answers/ANS0CQHANXP4WS9/the-system-began-in-the-sixth-or-seventh-century-ad)Disputed −[Direct dating places symbol use well before the sixth century at several sites.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/evidence/EVD0CQHAP5G0C6E/direct-dating-places-symbol-use-well-before-the-sixth)Supported ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 14](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [The Aberlemno symbol stone excavated in 2022](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHAR403H2P/the-aberlemno-symbol-stone-excavated-in-2022) University of Aberdeen · publisher Transcription2 steps from object [The Dunnicaer carved stones](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARBT2PV1/the-dunnicaer-carved-stones) Alexander Thomson · Public domain Photo1 step from object [The Serpent Stone (Aberlemno 1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARKM01XH/the-serpent-stone-aberlemno-1) JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo1 step from object [The Rhynie symbol stones](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHARKM4HD3/the-rhynie-symbol-stones) Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo1 step from object [The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (Allen and Anderson, 1903)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts/ART0CQHATSY1KFY/the-early-christian-monuments-of-scotland-allen-and-anderson) J. Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson; scan by the Getty Research Institute · Public domain (published 1903) [See all 14 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols/artifacts) ## See also [ **Indus script** About 4,000 short inscriptions of the Indus civilisation, 2600 to 1900 BC, unread. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script) [ **Proto-Elamite and Linear Elamite** Two scripts of south-western Iran, 3100 to 1880 BC, one claimed deciphered in 2022. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-elamite) [ **Iberian language and Palaeohispanic scripts** About 2,300 pre-Roman inscriptions from Spain and France that cannot be translated. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/iberian-language) [ **Inka khipus: the knotted-cord records** Knotted, coloured cord records of the Inka, read so far only for their numbers. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu) ## References 1. 1.[Fraser, I. 2008. The Pictish Symbol Stones of Scotland. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA9Q22KP8/the-pictish-symbol-stones-of-scotland)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CQHA9Q22KP8 1. 2.[University of Aberdeen 2022. Stone me! Rare Pictish symbol stone found near potential site of famous battle. University of Aberdeen News.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHAAEG2VZQ/stone-me-rare-pictish-symbol-stone-found-near-potential-site)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CQHAAEG2VZQ 1. 3.[Lee, R. 2010. The use of information theory to determine the language character type of Pictish symbols. Scottish Archaeological Journal 32(2), 137-176.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA7GR32SM/the-use-of-information-theory-to-determine-the-language)[doi](https://doi.org/10.3366/saj.2010.0014)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CQHA7GR32SM 1. 4.[Lee, R., Jonathan, P., Ziman, P. 2010. Pictish symbols revealed as a written language through application of Shannon entropy. Proceedings of the Royal Society A 466(2121), 2545-2560.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA78Y1Y9C/pictish-symbols-revealed-as-a-written-language-through)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2010.0041)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0CQHA78Y1Y9C 1. 5.[Samson, R. 1992. The Reinterpretation of the Pictish Symbols. Journal of the British Archaeological Association 145(1), 29-65.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA8ZM2TW2/the-reinterpretation-of-the-pictish-symbols)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1179/jba.1992.145.1.29)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CQHA8ZM2TW2 1. 6.[Noble, G., Goldberg, M., Hamilton, D. 2018. The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire. Antiquity 92(365), 1329-1348.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA6SA1V57/the-development-of-the-pictish-symbol-system-inscribing)[doi](https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.68)cited 14 times here**SRC** 0CQHA6SA1V57 1. 7.[Thomas, C. 1963. The Interpretation of the Pictish Symbols. Archaeological Journal 120(1), 31-97.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA97E3WCS/the-interpretation-of-the-pictish-symbols)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1080/00665983.1963.10854237)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CQHA97E3WCS 1. 8.[Sproat, R. 2010. Ancient Symbols, Computational Linguistics, and the Reviewing Practices of the General Science Journals. Computational Linguistics.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MT1HT76XS/ancient-symbols-computational-linguistics-and-the-reviewing)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00011)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D8MT1HT76XS 1. 9.[Sproat, R. 2014. A Statistical Comparison of Written Language and Nonlinguistic Symbol Systems. Language.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MT1SM3EB0/a-statistical-comparison-of-written-language-and)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2014.0031)cited 20 times here**SRC** 0D8MT1SM3EB0 1. 10.[Allen, J., Anderson, J. 1903. The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA9F832Z5/the-early-christian-monuments-of-scotland)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0CQHA9F832Z5 1. 11.[Historic Environment Scotland 2026. Canmore: National Record of the Historic Environment (point data). Historic Environment Scotland.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA9YW03PJ/canmore-national-record-of-the-historic-environment-point)cited 7 times here**SRC** 0CQHA9YW03PJ 1. 12.[Geggel, L. 2022. Unknown symbols written by the lost 'painted people' of Scotland unearthed. Live Science.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHAAPA7BMP/unknown-symbols-written-by-the-lost-painted-people-of)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CQHAAPA7BMP 1. 13.[Medievalists.net 2018. Pictish stone symbols date back hundreds of years earlier than first believed, study shows. medievalists.net.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHA71476XD/pictish-stone-symbols-date-back-hundreds-of-years-earlier)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQHA71476XD 1. 14.[Noble, G., Gondek, M., Campbell, E. et al. 2013. Between prehistory and history: the archaeological detection of social change among the Picts. Antiquity 87(338), 1136-1150.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQHAA6P269V/between-prehistory-and-history-the-archaeological-detection)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00049917)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CQHAA6P269V 1. 15.[Fournet, A. 2010. A linguist's comment on 'Pictish symbols revealed as a written language through application of Shannon entropy'. 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