Cross slab

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This massive Pictish cross slab was found at Hilton of Caboll in Ross-shire. It is one of the most remarkable and detailed of all Pictish monuments, carved between 800 and 900. This picture shows the back of the stone.

The back is highly decorated and has three panels and an elaborate border. The panels contain (from the top) Pictish symbols, a scene with figures, and a design of interlocking spirals. The lower half of the basal panel is lost.

The Pictish symbols are richly decorated in a typically Easter Ross style. The aristocratic hunting scene is regularly used on Pictish cross slabs. The motif of the birds in the vine may have been copied from illuminated manuscripts of the period.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-190-001-213-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IB 189
• Date: 7th or 8th century
  Between 800 and 900
  
• Material: Stone
  
• Dimensions: 2500 mm H x 180 mm L x 1440 mm W
  
• What:
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Cadboll
  
• Event:
• Description: Cross slab showing hunters on horses, hounds and deer, from Hilton of Cadboll, Ross and Cromarty, 7th or 8th century
  
• References:
  • Close-Brooks, J. & Stevenson, R.B.K. Dark Age Sculpture. Edinburgh: HMSO, 1982 
• Translations:
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