Kintore
Pictish Symbol Stone (Pictish)
Site Name Kintore
Classification Pictish Symbol Stone (Pictish)
Alternative Name(s) Castle Hill; Kintore No. 3
Canmore ID 18591
Site Number NJ71NE 32.02
NGR NJ 7939 1634
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/18591
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Kintore
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
Kintore 3, Aberdeenshire, Pictish symbol stone fragment
Measurements: H 1.07m, W 0.91m, D 0.23m
Stone type: red granite
Place of discovery: NJ 7939 1634
Present location: National Museums Scotland (X.IB.23)
Evidence for discovery: discovered when a motte was demolished to enable the construction of the railway in 1854, and purchased by NMAS in 1865.
Present condition: broken edges and worn.
Description
Two incised symbols survive at one end of this stone, but there are traces above them of another carving of which only a squared end may be seen. The two symbols are a double crescent and a tuning fork.
Date: seventh century.
References: ECMS pt 3, 171-4; Fraser 2008, no 30.2.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2017
NJ71NE 32.02 7939 1634
No. 3. Another symbol stone was found on Castle Hill. Also of red granite, it is of irregular shape, 1.06m x 0.9m x 23cm and bears a pair of ornamental crescents arranged back to back, and the 'tuning-fork' symbol. Bought by the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) in 1865 (Accession no. IB 23).
J R Allen and J Anderson 1903; NMAS 1892; J Stuart 1856; Information from R Jones 1980.
Reference (1994)
These symbol stones are held in the Royal Museum of Scotland under accession numbers IB 22 and IB 23.
RCAHMS 1994.
Reference (1997)
Two Class I symbol stones.
Kintore 2 : on the face an elephant above a double-disc and Z-rod and on the reverse a mirror above an elephant.
Kintore 3 : a double-crescent with tuning fork to the right.
A Mack 1997.
