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Meigle 8 Description of stone
Date 2018
Event ID 1039933
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1039933
Meigle 8, Perthshire, Pictish cross-slab fragment
Measurements: H 0.20m, W 0.20m, D 0.10m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NO 2872 4455
Present location: Meigle Museum.
Evidence for discovery: found in 1889 ‘lying outside the old schoolhouse’, probably within the old churchyard.
Present condition: broken, damaged and worn.
Description
This fragment belongs to the upper part of a cross-slab, carved in relief on both broad faces within a roll moulding. Face A bears a cross-head with a circle at the centre, rectangular terminals and circular armpits, the upper and left arms contain spiral work, but the rest of the head is very worn. Face C is carved with a device like a pair of dividers, which is unique to Meigle but may nonetheless be a symbol. Beneath is a pair of animals of which only the heads and forelegs survive. They have broad snouts and lappets on their heads and necks, and each has a forepaw in the other’s jaws.
Date: ninth century.
References: ECMS pt 3, 303; RCAHMS 1994, 98, D.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2018.
