Latheron stone
Photo Ewen Rennie · CC BY-SA 2.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Latheron stone is a Pictish cross slab with an ogham inscription in the Pictish language, found near Latheron in Caithness, now part of the Highland council area of Scotland. It is broken at the top.
The sandstone slab is about 90 cm high and carries relief figures, interlace and incised animals as well as the ogham inscription. It is significant because only 31 other inscriptions are known in the still incomprehensible Pictish language, most of them very short.
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Article
Latheron stone
The rectangular sandstone slab is shortened at top and bottom and stands about 90 cm high.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
The rectangular sandstone slab is shortened at top and bottom and stands about 90 cm high. Its upper part shows two rectangular figures in relief with a double spiral and interlace patterns. In the lower part a bird, a fish and two riders are incised.
The left side carries, along the whole length of the stone, a row of ogham characters. Because of the break it is probably incomplete. The letter sequence reads DUNNODNNAT MAQQ NETO.
InterpretationSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
The inscription is important because only 31 other inscriptions in the Pictish language are known, most of them very short, and the language remains incomprehensible.
Research historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
The stone was recorded in 1903 on the inner wall of a barn near the village of Latheron. In 1905 Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825–1907) presented it to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS). The U-shaped stone setting at Achavanich lies in the vicinity.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs; a few have ogham inscriptions. Such stones stand in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the eastern side of the country, and are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts. They are thought to date from the sixth to the ninth century CE, a period during which the Picts became Christianised. About 350 objects classified as Pictish stones have survived.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Pictish and early medieval stones
A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs; a few have ogham inscriptions. They stand in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the eastern side of the country, and are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts. They are thought to date from the sixth to the ninth century CE, a period during which the Picts became Christianised. About 350 objects classified as Pictish stones have survived. The earlier stones have no parallels elsewhere in the British Isles, while the later forms are variations within a wider tradition of monumental stones such as high crosses.
The Aberlemno Sculptured Stones in Angus are a series of Pictish standing stones in and around the village. Three are in the village and a fourth, found in 1962, is on display in Dundee. Aberlemno 1, 3 and 5 stand in recesses in a dry stone wall at the side of the road, and Aberlemno 2 is in the kirkyard. They date from the Early Medieval period. A fifth stone in the village carries signs of carving but is of unknown authenticity as a Pictish artefact.
Ogham stones are a related tradition in Ireland, and a few appear in Britain. Ogham is the early medieval alphabet used for the Irish language and for Pictish and British inscriptions, with letters formed by strokes along the edge of a standing stone.
The meaning of the Pictish symbols is still debated. Dating relies on art style and on the relation to Christian monuments, not on any dated find.
When visiting, look at the symbols and at the carving on the reverse of the later stones.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Pictish stone, Wikipedia: Aberlemno sculptured stones, Wikipedia: Picts, Wikipedia: Ogham · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1903
Er wurde 1903 an der Innenwand einer Scheune nahe der Ortschaft Latheron in der schottischen Grafschaft Caithness, die heute Teil der Council Area Highland ist.
Source - 1905
Er wurde dem National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) im Jahre 1905 von Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825–1907) übereignet.
Source
Photographs
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
Where it stands
United Kingdom
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 58°16′47″ N, 3°22′08″ WFor a GPS or map app: 58.27969, -3.36894
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
- Menhir (standing stone)Latheron, 2 standing stones2800–1800 BCE
- Cyclopean masonrybroch 450m S of Latheronwheel Bridge390 BCE–200 CE
- Chambered cairnchambered cairn 580m SE of Latheronwheel House4000–2500 BCE
- Chambered cairnForse House, settlement, field system, burnt mounds and cairns WSW of4000–2500 BCE
chambered cairn 530m ESE of Upper Latheron4000–2500 BCE- Cyclopean masonrybroch 230m E of Upper Latheron390 BCE–200 CE
- Cyclopean masonrySmerral, broch to E of Bunellich390 BCE–200 CE
- Cyclopean masonrySmerral Wood390 BCE–200 CE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
1 source behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q1648308wikidata.org
Image files
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Latheron, 2 standing stones0.6 km N
- broch 450m S of Latheronwheel Bridge1.3 km SW
- chambered cairn 580m SE of Latheronwheel House1.7 km SW
- Forse House, settlement, field system, burnt mounds and cairns WSW of2.0 km N
- chambered cairn 530m ESE of Upper Latheron2.0 km SW
- broch 230m E of Upper Latheron2.0 km SW
- Smerral, broch to E of Bunellich2.1 km W
- Smerral Wood2.2 km W
- broch 500m W of Latheronwheel House2.3 km W
- The Tulloch (Usshilly), broch and field system WNW of Forse House2.5 km N
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Stein von Latheron" (German), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (German): Stein von LatheronCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q1648308CC0