Rosemarkie Description of stone
Event ID 1020976
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1020976
Rosemarkie 4, Ross & Cromarty, possible cross-slab fragment
Measurements: H 0.34m, W 0.37m, D 0.08m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NH 7372 5763
Present location: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (IB 119), on loan to Groam House Museum.
Evidence for discovery: found in the churchyard at Rosemarkie and given to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in 1885.
Present condition: very worn and all edges are broken
Description
This fragment is carved in shallow relief on one broad face with the remains of a figural scene, and it may have been part of a cross-slab or a panel. Traces of the lower part of two figures survive, both walking to the left and evidently depicted in profile. One is wearing an elaborately decorated ankle-length garment, possibly pleated, with a border of key pattern. Behind this figure is another in a slightly shorter, apparently plain, tunic, who is carrying a staff or spear.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: ECMS pt 3, 87-8; Henderson 1990, [16-17]; Seright & Henderson 2013, 10.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2017.
