![Aberlemnokirkyardcropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Aberlemnokirkyardcropped.jpg)
The Aberlemno Sculptured Stones are a series of five Class I and II
Early Medieval
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
standing stones found in and around the village of
Aberlemno
Aberlemno ( gd, Obar Leamhnach, IPA: ˆopəɾˈʎɛunÉ™x is a parish and small village in the Scottish council area of Angus. It is noted for three large carved Pictish stones (and one fragment) dating from the 7th and 8th centuries AD (Histori ...
,
Angus, Scotland.
Location
Aberlemno 1, 3 and 5 are located in recesses in the dry stone wall at the side of the road in
Aberlemno
Aberlemno ( gd, Obar Leamhnach, IPA: ˆopəɾˈʎɛunÉ™x is a parish and small village in the Scottish council area of Angus. It is noted for three large carved Pictish stones (and one fragment) dating from the 7th and 8th centuries AD (Histori ...
(). Aberlemno 2 is found in the Kirkyard, 300 yards south of the roadside stones.() In recent years, bids have been made to move the stones to an indoor location to protect them from weathering, but this has met with local resistance and the stones are currently covered in the winter. The stones are covered with wooden boxes from the last working day of September until the first working day of April.
Aberlemno 4, the Flemington Farm Stone was found 30 yards from the church (), and is now on display in the
McManus Galleries
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in the centre of Dundee, Scotland. The building houses a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history co ...
,
Dundee.
Description
Aberlemno 1
![Serpent stone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Serpent_stone.JPG)
Aberlemno 1 is the central roadside stone. It is an unshaped standing stone, bearing incised
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...
symbols, defining it under
J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson's classification system as a Class I stone.
The symbols on one face: the serpent, the
double disc and Z-rod and the
mirror and comb. The meaning of these symbols is unknown. They are deeply incised in a bold, confident line, and this stone is considered to be one of the finest and best-preserved Pictish symbol stones still standing in or near its original position. The other face of the stone exhibits
prehistoric cup marks
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain (Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Alp ...
, showing that it has been re-used.
Aberlemno 2
Aberlemno II, found in Aberlemno kirkyard, is a shaped cross-slab, bearing Pictish symbols as well as Christian symbols in relief, defining it as a Class II stone. The stone, carved from Old Red Sandstone, stands tall, wide at the base, tapering to wide at the top, and is thick.
The west face is inscribed with a quadrilobate
Celtic Cross. The cross bears several styles of Celtic pattern designs. The vertical arms are inscribed with three separate knotwork designs, the horizontal arms with keywork designs. The central roundel has a spiral design composed of three interconnecting
triskeles
A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient Motif (visual arts), motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry.
The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is fo ...
. Bordering the cross are a number of Celtic zoomorphic designs, reminiscent of Northumbrian designs and designs from the
Book of Kells.
[ A hole has been bored through the upper part of the stone some time after its sculpting.
The rear face features two Pictish symbols, a notched rectangle with z-rod and a triple disc. Below this are nine figures which have been interpreted as a narrative account of a battle.
Until recently, it was thought to date to the mid-8th century,][ but subsequent analysis has suggested a mid-9th century date.]
Aberlemno 3
The western road-side stone is another Class II stone. It has an elaborately decorated ringed cross flanked by adoring angels on one side, and a hunting scene on the reverse, below two large Pictish symbols. This stone is known as Aberlemno 3. This stone has until recently been thought to date from the late eighth century. More recent comparative analyses have suggested that it may be of a later, mid-ninth-century origin.[
Aberlemno 3 has different proportions to the Kirkyard Cross-slab, being relatively tall and thin, with parallel sides which have incised decoration (those of the other cross-slab are plain). The monument's height and decoration on four faces both suggest it is later in date than Aberlemno 2. Its nearest artistic analogies appear to be sculptures from ]Easter Ross
Easter Ross ( gd, Ros an Ear) is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.
The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constitue ...
in northern Scotland, notable the Hilton of Cadboll
Hilton of Cadboll, or simply Hilton, ( gd, Baile a' Chnuic) is a village about southeast of Tain in Easter Ross, in the Scottish council area of Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated ...
stone (now in the Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...
), which has a closely similar hunting scene.
Aberlemno 4
This stone, found in 1961 is approximately 1.5 metres tall, 0.5 m wide and 0.3 m thick. It has incised symbols on an unworked stone, defining it under J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson's classification system as a Class I stone. There are two symbols, a horseshoe and a Pictish Beast
The Pictish Beast (sometimes Pictish Dragon or Pictish Elephant) is an artistic representation of an animal depicted on Pictish symbol stones.
Design
The Pictish Beast is not easily identifiable with any real animal, but resembles a seahorse, ...
. The anterior portion of the beast symbol (facing right) has suffered some damage due to ploughing, but is still easily visible.
Aberlemno 5
The eastern Class I stone is highly eroded and the incised symbols are extremely difficult to make out. This stone is thought to be unfinished or a later fake. This stone is known as Aberlemno 5.
The battle scene on Aberlemno 2
On the rear of Aberlemno 2 is a scene showing human figures bearing weapons, apparently engaged in battle. The figures appear in three rows. The top row has an unhelmeted figure on horseback riding behind a helmeted rider, possibly in pursuit. The helmeted rider is armed with a spear and appears to have dropped his sword and shield. The middle row has a helmeted rider armed with a spear and shield facing three unhelmeted infantry soldiers armed with spears, swords and shields. The bottom row shows a mounted and unhelmeted figure and mounted helmeted figure facing each other, both armed with spears. Behind the helmeted rider lies a helmeted casualty, with a bird to his right.
The battle scene has been interpreted in numerous ways. The earliest record of the stone by Hector Boece
Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...
, from the 16th century, links the scene with the Battle of Barry
The Battle of Barry is a legendary battle in which the Scots, purportedly led by Malcolm II, defeated a Danish invasion force in 1010 AD. Its supposed site in Carnoustie, Angus can be seen in early Ordnance Survey maps.
The history of the e ...
(now known to be historically inauthentic):
82. ''Parem cladem nobilissimus Danorum manipulus est sortitus ad Aberlemnonem vicum vix a Bretheno, nunc civitate episcopali sede honestata, quatuor passuum millibus, qui a Scotis interceptus ibidem ferro occubuit. Quo loco ingens lapis est erectus. Huic animantium effigies nonnullis cum characteribus artificiose, ut tum fiebat, quae rem gestam posteritati annunciarent, sunt insculptae.''
82. ''A noble company of Danes suffered a similar slaughter near the village of Aberlemno, a village four miles distant from Brechin (nowadays a city possessing the honour of an episcopal see), which was intercepted by the Scots and put to the sword. Here a great stone was erected, carved with lifelike figures and an artfully-engraved inscription (according to the lights of those days) to record this achievement for posterity.''
This interpretation persisted well into the mid-19th century, some time after antiquarian George Chalmers identified Dunnichen
Dunnichen ( gd, Dùn Neachdain, meaning the "Fort of Neachdan/Nechtan") is a small village in Angus, Scotland, situated between Letham and Forfar. It is close to Dunnichen Hill, at which the Battle of Dun Nechtain is popularly believed to have b ...
as a possible site of the Battle of Dun Nechtain
The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere ( Scottish Gaelic: ''Blà r Dhùn Neachdain'', Old Irish: ''Dún Nechtain'', Old Welsh: ''Gueith Linn Garan'', Modern Welsh: ''Gwaith Llyn Garan'', Old English: ''Nechtans mere'') was fough ...
.
While it was noted in 1955 by Robert Stevenson, keeper of the Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, that the helmets depicted on the stone were of a general sub-Roman design and the helmeted figures were likely to be Picts, the superficial similarity of the helmets with their long nasal, with the Anglo-Saxon Coppergate Helmet
The Coppergate Helmet (also known as the York Helmet) is an eighth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet found in York, England. It was discovered in May 1982 during excavations for the Jorvik Viking Centre at the bottom of a pit that is thought to have on ...
found at York in 1982 has led to the notion that the helmeted figures are Northumbrians. This, coupled with the stone's proximity to Dunnichen ( to the south) led to the interpretation made by historian Graeme Cruickshank that the scene was a depiction of the Battle of Dun Nechtain.
Cruickshank's interpretation, published in 1985, 1300 years after the Battle of Dun Nechtain, received general acceptance, although he has been criticised for his suggestions that the stone was created soon after the battle in 685, when the conventional view at the time was that it was sculpted a century later.
The subsequent identification of Dunachton
Dunachton ( gd, Dùn Neachdain) is an estate on the north-west shore of Loch Insh in Badenoch and Strathspey, in the Highlands of Scotland. It occupies land immediately to the north of the A9 road and General Wade's Military Road.
Recent resear ...
in Badenoch
Badenoch (from gd, BÃ ideanach, meaning "drowned land") is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by t ...
as a second candidate for the site of the battle,[ and the revised dating of the stone to the mid-9th century][ has weakened Cruickshank's argument somewhat, and alternative interpretations have been made, including that the scene depicts a battle between Picts and ]Vikings
Vikings ; non, vÃkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...
,[ or that it is a memorial to the 8th-century Pictish king ]Óengus I
Óengus son of Fergus ( xpi, *Onuist map Vurguist; sga, Óengus mac Fergusso, "Angus son of Fergus"), was king of the Picts, of possible Gaelic origin, from 732 until his death in 761. His reign can be reconstructed in some detail from a varie ...
, or even that it represents a spiritual struggle.[
]
Gallery
File:Aberlemno Pictish Stone - geograph.org.uk - 4357.jpg, Aberlemno 1
File:Aberlemno.jpg, Aberlemno 2 front face
File:Aberlemno Churchyard Cross Slab 20090616.jpg, Aberlemno 2 rear face
File:Pictish Stone at Aberlemno Church Yard - Battle Scene Detail.jpg, Aberlemno 2 'battle' detail
File:Celtic art in Pagan and Christian Times, p185.jpg, Early photo of Aberlemno 2
File:Aberlemno III.JPG, Aberlemno 3 front face
File:Aberlemno Roadside Cross Slab 20090616.jpg, Aberlemno 3 rear face
File:Aberlemno III symbols.jpg, Aberlemno 3 rear detail
File:Ablerlemno4.JPG, Aberlemno 4
File:Aberlemno boxed.jpg, Stones boxed for the winter
Notes
References
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External links
* Historic Environemt Scotland
Visitor guide
* Aberlemno Stones
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II
III
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{{coord, 56, 41, 21, N, 2, 46, 53, W, region:GB_type:landmark_source:kolossus-nlwiki, display=title
9th-century sculptures
Pictish stones
Pictish stones in Angus, Scotland
Sculpture series
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Angus