Product Description
Edited and translated Medieval texts related to the Picts and Dark Age Scotland have been compiled for the first time in this one-volume collection. Recorded texts include Pictish Origin Legends written in Medieval Irish and Pictish and Scottish Regnal Lists, many of which have never previously been edited. Also included are lists, tables, and charts of supplemental information related to the Picts. Dictionaries of 500 personal, place, and population names associated with the Picts provide further innovative analysis of these texts. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Huh?
I know Mr Cummins is a respected scholar in all things Pictish, but his circular logicon many things and jumping to conclusions left me infuriated.I don't believe he proved his theories to be any more credible than the ones he discredited.Too many gaps, too many unproven associations.

Although his theories are interesting I note he is listed on the back cover as a "former senior lecturer in geology at the University of Nottingham", not an archeologist or anthropologist, or even a professor of linguistics.

I believe there is still much to do in the way of research in this area and resist jumping to any conclusions in the matter until more has been done.

The connexion between various names and the symbols he is associating them with seem too pat, and without any tangible evidence, with no basis in culture or mythology or anything but convenience and numeric distribution of the occasions of usage of both.The only one which rang true was the possible use of mirror and comb to represent someone deceased, and then only because the cultural mythos of the connexion between the spirit and the mirror was brought into the discussion.

A Great Book. However. . .
"Decoding the Pictish Symbols" is a reprint of "The Picts and Their Symbols," a fact not noted in the product description (unless Amazon adds that tidbit in the future). ... Read more

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This study of the Picts aims to clarify the debate over their provenance, influence and eventual disappearance as they were subsumed into the greater Scottish ethnic mix with the arrival of the Vikings. It forms part of "The Making of Scotland" series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good basic introduction
A good basic introduction to what we know - or think we know - about the Picts.Carver emphasises the extent to which experts disagree on many areas, especially language and customs.

Depicting the Picts
This is a comprehensive update on what is known of the Picts. Hitherto an enigmatic race of people, the Picts were romanticised by their warrior qualities, the wearing of blue paint in battle and their espousal of matrilinear inheritance. They left no written records and many puzzles. Where did they go? What were they like? Where did they come from. The only clues are from their elegantly and very competently carved stones, some archeology and occasional glancing references to them in ancient texts. Martin Carver has captured in easily understood language the flavour of this almost forgotten nation.Like other vanquished peoples, their history has not survived in a substantial form but hints, straws in the wind and wispy allusions have been gathered by Prof. Carver and dispassionately evaluated. He makes tantalising predictions that more is waiting for discovery, mainly through archeology. With that and other areas of research when pursued, will give us more than a glimpse of these aboriginal Scots. ... Read more

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Based on archeological research conducted on a sixth to tenth century Pictish settlement on Tarbat Ness, Easter Ross, this book recounts the life, culture, and burial practice of the Picts. It describes the process of archeological discovery and interpretation and details daily life at the Portmahomack monastery.

Product Description
This guide to the Picts covers all known Pictish stones. It incorporates the latest discoveries, along with a full listing of symbols and their possible meaning, a complete gazetteer, and location maps with ordnance survey grid references. The Picts were a Dark Age warrior race which ruled Scotland for 500 years. They left a legacy of carved stones, still to be found throughout the country in churchyards, museums and private collections. This book lists all known stones - some 630 examples - whether complete or fragmentary, pagan or Christian, and those lost to us now. Descriptions are given of the three classes of stone. Elizabeth Sutherland is the author of "In Search of the Picts" (1985, 1994). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Pictish Guide
A great little book jam packed with information, excellent for the back pocket and indepensible as a field gude. Would like to see more pictures/photos in the book, though it is a guide and for that purpose it certainly is good!

another superb work by Sutherland!
This a wonderfully concise, yet chocked full of information books on the stone that were left by the Picts of Scotland.Lot of graphic work showing pictish symbols and knots, photographs(black & white), and maps, this gives anyone wishing to study these stone the perfect guide to their location and all information concerning that find.

Denotes the type of stone used, catagorises and classifies them, lists if they are in the care of museums or on private land.In other words, she gives just what you need to know about these fascination works of art in stone left my a race that has not been explored nearly enough. ... Read more