Found at Ackergill, Caithness

Sculptured stone

This sculptured stone carved with Pictish symbols and an ogham inscription once stood at the end of a long mound near Ackergill in Caithness. It is from a pagan, Pictish cemetery, erected sometime between 600 and 800.

The stone bears the remains of a fish symbol above a rectangle filled with curvilinear patterns. To the left is part of an ogham inscription reading 'NEHTEHRI...', perhaps a form of the name Nechton, known from Pictish historical sources.

The adoption of Christianity in Scotland was gradual. Many areas remained non-Christian in their traditions for some time. In eastern and northeast Scotland people were buried under mounds of various shapes, sometimes grouped into cemeteries.

Record details

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Online ID:	000-100-043-493-C
Image Rights Holder:	National Museums Scotland
Project:	0098: National Museums Scotland Project description \| View all records in project
Ref:	National Museums Scotland X.IB 168
Date:	Between 600 and 800
Material:	Slate; with ogham inscription and fish symbol
Dimensions:	1350 mm H x 120 mm L x 680 mm W
What:	Symbol stone
Subject:
Who:
Where:	Scotland, Caithness, Wick, Ackergill
Event:
Description:	Pictish symbol stone of slate with ogham inscription and a fish symbol, from Ackergill, Caithness, 7th or 8th century
References:	Close-Brooks, J. & Stevenson, R. B. K. Dark Age Sculpture. Edinburgh: HMSO, 1982
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