Publication Account

Date 1996

Event ID 1016492

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016492

This rough whinstone pillar, standing 1.98m high, bears three finely incised symbols and is unusual in being, apparently, still in its original location. The symbols are on the south face and consist of a well drawn double disc and Z-rod, the latter with ornate, flame-like, terminal over a tightly coiled serpent and Z-rod with a simple mirror beneath. (There is no comb.) The essentially prehistoric,remote quality of the Pictish symbols can be gauged here.

An 'excavation' in 1856 found that the stone stood on a low cairn, 1.9m in diameter, which had an extended grave beneath its perimeter; this emphasises the association between symbol stones and burial and property rights. The clear view of Dunnideer hillfort (no. 75) may also be significant.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Aberdeen and North-East Scotland’, (1996).