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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).

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