The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire

Gordon Noble, Martin Goldberg, Derek Hamilton, 2018. Antiquity 92(365), 1329-1348.

New radiocarbon dates and Bayesian modelling for symbol-bearing contexts at Dunnicaer, Rhynie and in the Northern Isles, placing the origin of the symbol system in the third to fourth century AD and interpreting it as a naming system contemporary with ogham and runes.

Pictish symbol stonesArticledoi: 10.15184/aqy.2018.68Checked against the original0

What it's used for here

The source for the revised dating and the naming interpretation.

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The system began in the sixth or seventh century AD.

Answer

ANS

The system was in use by the third to fourth century AD.

Answer

ANS

The Dunnicaer carved stones

ART

The Rhynie symbol stones

ART

Bone objects and settlement layers in the Northern Isles show the symbols in use in the fifth century.

Evidence

EVD

Direct dating places symbol use well before the sixth century at several sites.

Evidence

EVD

Dunnicaer's carvings come from a fort at its height in the third to fourth centuries AD.

Evidence

EVD

The 2018 dating places the system alongside ogham and runes and its authors read it as a naming system.

Evidence

EVD

Noble, Goldberg and Hamilton date the symbol system to the 3rd to 4th century AD

EVT

Symbols are carved at the promontory fort of Dunnicaer, then at its height

EVT

The fort at Rhynie, with its symbol stones, is occupied

EVT

Gordon Noble

FIG

The Pictish symbol stones

The mystery article

MYS

When did the symbol system begin?

Question

QST

Cite it

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://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.68

@article{noble2018development,
  author = {Noble, Gordon and Goldberg, Martin and Hamilton, Derek},
  title = {The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire},
  journal = {Antiquity 92(365), 1329-1348},
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.15184/aqy.2018.68},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.68}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire
AU  - Noble, Gordon
AU  - Goldberg, Martin
AU  - Hamilton, Derek
PY  - 2018
JO  - Antiquity 92(365), 1329-1348
DO  - 10.15184/aqy.2018.68
UR  - https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.68
ER  -

Noble, Gordon et al.. “The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire.” Antiquity 92(365), 1329-1348 (2018). https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.68.