Old Scatness 3 Descrption of stone
Event ID 1014810
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1014810
Old Scatness 3, Shetland, Pictish symbol stone
Measurements: H 0.19m, W 0.24m, D 0.05m
Stone type: sandstone beach cobble
Place of discovery: HU 3898 1065
Present location: Shetland Museum, Lerwick (OSB 2016.8492)
Evidence for discovery: found during excavations in 1998, built into the kerb of a hearth in structure 5, in such a way that the carving would not have been visible. There is evidence to suggest that structure 5 belongs to a class of oracle-shrine (Ritchie 2003; Dockrill et al 2010, 358).
Present condition: some wear is present
Description
The carving is approximately central to the stone but at an angle to its axis. Lightly incised is a somewhat crude representation of a boar facing left. It has the stiff crest, long snout and straight tail of a primitive boar, and Bond suggests that the lappet under the snout is also a mark of an old breed (Dockrill et al 2010, 308). Faint circular incisions on the body may relate to the notion of spiral joints.
Date: seventh century.
References: Ritchie 2003; Fraser 2008, no 198.2; Scott & Ritchie 2009, no 9; Dockrill et al 2010, SF8492, 307-9, 314-15.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
