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Decoding the Pictish Symbols

by W.A. Cummins

The Pictish symbols carved on stones across ancient northern Britain are instantly recognisable but remain undeciphered. Attempts have been made to de-code the rather simplistic set of motifs, but no argument has been found to be convincing. In this study of the stones (originally published in 1999 as The Picts and Their Symbols), Cummins draws on comparative evidence from the Irish ogham script and the Drosten Stone, in an attempt to explain them and argues that these were monuments to particular named individuals, as were so many Latin-inscribed monuments of the time. The different symbols, both abstract and more recognisable (snakes, birds, fish), are described, along with their distribution, period of use and disappearance in the ninth century. 218p, b/w figs and pls (Sutton Publishing 1999, new ed 2009)~

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