Drainie

Drainie 20, Kinneddar, Moray, carved fragment

Measurements: H 0.18m, W 0.11m, D 0.02m

Stone type: sandstone

Place of discovery: NJ c 2230 6960

Present location: Elgin Museum (1978.123)

Evidence for discovery: found in or near the old graveyard at Kinneddar sometime after 1936.

Present condition: broken edges but the carving is in good condition.

Description

A small thin fragment, this stone is nonetheless carved on one broad face in deep and highly defined relief with part of a scene involving a clawed paw intertwined with two arcs of a coiled motif, perhaps a tail. The surface beneath this relief panel bears three incised horizontal lines. The fragment is so thin that it is more likely to have been part of a panel than a cross-slab.

Date range: eighth or ninth century.

Primary references:

Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2018.