Aberlemno, Angus
This Pictish cross-slab is found in the churchyard of Aberlemno. A cross,
surrounded by carvings of animals is displayed on one side while the reverse is shown in the photograph. Underneath the carving of Pictish motifs at the top of the stone, this side depicts several scenes from a battle. This is probably the Battle of Nechtansmere in AD 685 between the Picts and Northumbrians. The carvings depict the Northumbrian king galloping away from the Pictish king, before turning to fight and finally being defeated and eaten by ravens at the base of the stone. Three examples of Pictish standing stones are found close together by the road side at Aberlemno. Each stone is decorated with symbols drawn from a set of motiffs common to all Pictish stones. Probably dating to sometime during the 6th to the 9th centuries AD the symbols include animals, objects and more abstract designs. The stone shown in the photograph is decorated with a ‘double disc’ and ‘Z-rod’ in the middle of the stone and a mirror and comb by the
base. One of the other two stones is is inscribed with a cross, this Christian symbol becoming used during the 8th century AD. return to the map
