Pricing Change
New pricing for orders of material from this site will come into place shortly. Charges for supply of digital images, digitisation on demand, prints and licensing will be altered.
Upcoming Maintenance
Please be advised that this website will undergo scheduled maintenance on the following dates:
Thursday, 30 January: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
During these times, some functionality such as image purchasing may be temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Publication Account
Date 1996
Event ID 1016490
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016490
Three early Pictish stones, the largest, of gabbro, incised with a fine beast's head (resembling an otter or seal), a double disc and Z-rod and a mirror and comb. The comb is of a particular type which may be as early as the 4th or 5th century, while the surviving terminal of the Z-rod is more usually found on certain V-rods.
The slab of pink granite has part of an incised double disc and Z-rod, a crescent and V-rod and a mirror, all in a very simple style. The smallest stone, which has been cut down from a larger slab, bears a lightly-incised beast, a distinctive comb, and a curvilinear symbol.
A total of eight Pictish stones comes from the immediate vicinity of the kirkyard, perhaps focused on the Craw Stane, a substantial slab incised with a fish and a beast, which still stands on the hill shoulder above (NJ 497263).
Two stones now stand in the village square, but are almost illegible, barring the spear carried by one figure. A cast of the Rhynie Man, a fierce male figure, 1.07m tall and carved on a heavy boulder, bearing an axe, may be seen in the entrance to Rhynie School; the original is on display in the foyer of Woodhill House, Westburn Road, Aberdeen (NJ 911069) (open Monday-Friday).
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Aberdeen and North-East Scotland’, (1996).
