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Broch of Burrian 1 Description of stone

Event ID 1015538

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1015538

Burrian, Broch of Burrian 1, North Ronaldsay, cross-slab

Measurements: H 0.75m, W 0.38m tapering to 0.28m, D 0.05m

Stone type: clay slate

Place of discovery: HY 7627 5138

Present location: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (GB.1)

Evidence for discovery: found in a secondary level within the broch during excavations in 1870.

Present condition: the surface has suffered from flaking, and some of the carving of the cross has been lost.

Description

This tapering slab bears a very lightly incised cross and ogham inscription on one broad face. The cross is carved towards the right-hand side of the slab as if to allow space for the inscription. The cross has an equal-armed head with four expanded rectangular terminals and wide circular armpits. The shaft is weathered and incomplete. The inscription is ‘the only extant sentence in Pictish’, recording the making of the cross (Forsyth 1996, 202).

Date: seventh or eighth century.

References: Traill 1890; MacGregor 1974, no 279, 96; Forsyth 1996, 187-205; Fisher 2002, 49, 52; Scott & Ritchie 2014, no 15.

Compiled by A Ritchie 2016.

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