Very interesting. I was taught as a child that the crescent and v-rod was an instruction on how to build calendar - at sunrise on midsummer, you place three tall stones in the ground in a triangle, so the tallest stone’s shadow falls between the other two, and the angle from the tallest stone to the other two matches the angle of the v-rod. The next year, you watch the sunrise shadow each morning, and when it touches the first of the smaller stones, it’s time to sow. When the sunrise shadow reaches the second of the smaller stones, it’s time to harvest. I’m sure the climate was different back then, but as a rudimentary calendar, this does still work for the short growing season in Orkney, where I grew up.
Your story of the harvest ‘calendar’ is really interesting. Have you shared it with Orkneyjar? I’m sure that The Pictish Arts Society would like to know about it. Although some writers on the Picts have interpreted the Crescent and V Rod as a pelta (small shield) and a broken arrow, others have suggested that the angle of the V Rod was linked to calculations of the summer and winter solstices for the reason you mention.( The comment by Divine I above, makes a similar point.) Some writers have likened the Crescent to a crescent moon, and the V Rod to a broken sheaf of corn or barley. The floriations at the ends of some V Rods have been interpreted as symbols of fertility-which also connects to the harvest theme. Some of them remind me of hairst knots made at harvest time.Not all V Rods however have these decorations. The problem is that even if the Crescent and V Rod symbol was based upon a farming sundial, this does not necessarily mean that the symbol actually represents one. Pictish scholars would point out that the problem with interpreting the symbols in this way is that even if the Crescent and V Rod is a pictorial representation of a kind of sundial, the symbol might have been intended to convey a completely different meaning. Some recent thinking sees the symbols as personal names, and one writer, W.D Cummings, has suggested that the Crescent and V Rod represents the name Brude /Brithei. Not everyone agrees ! The search for the symbol code is clearly alive and well !
I am entirely unconvinced that any farmers needed stones to tell them when to sow their seed. This always seems like the inventions of fanciful Edwardian and Victorian antiquarians who had never even held a spade never mind used one. Having grown fruit and veg in N W England from age 16 to my mid 50s I cannot recall ever having recourse to the calendar when deciding when to start gardening. We waited till the worst of the winter rain had stopped and the ground dried a little. That could be anytime from early March to early April. Planting, again depended on the weather. We waited till the soil had warmed a little. Ie we had had some sunshine. We judged the land was ready by walking on it and looking. No one needs a set of stones to notice that the trees are coming into leaf. That the grass is growing. That birds are nesting. Ewes ready to lamb. That the days are longer and the weather more clement. i used to believe all the old wives explanations until I thought about it. Feast days and festivals are fixed to coincide with nature. Etc.
Makes sense that it could represent this method of tracking seasons, but if this was a commonly used/known method at the time I can’t imagine they would feel the need to immortalize it in stone all over the place. As mentioned, the symbol might have been intended to convey an entirely different meaning. Example, the walking figure at a crosswalk tells you this is where you cross. It’s not intended to teach you how to walk.
@@helenamcginty4920 It's far more likely that celestial events were used for determining religious dates, much like Easter still is. For deeply religious people knowing when to perform certain rites was just as important as knowing when to plant corn.
In an era of glitz and HD and history know it alls and wanna be's... I thank you for your work and time and effort! I just read down through the comments... everyone is an expert when sitting behind their computer at a safe distance... the truth is most ALL is speculation, AND as in most history, it will ever evolve as sites are dug and examined and new technologies are afforded... but taking the film to the various places in the landscape, and sharing your version, is fabulous... we can all draw our own conclusions, but not without your film. I appreciate your individuality on all of it! Much needed in a world full of 'sameness' and 'judgement'! Thank you!!
As a student at uni, I did a big project on the Picts so I had the excuse to travel all over Scotland visiting the stones and taking photos. Many a cold night camping in a field, but well worth it.
Great videos. As someone who is of Irish, Welsh, and German ancestry, I find this history of our ancestors fascinating. We are certainly diverse. My brother was a curly ginger haired man in a straight dark-haired family and seemed out of place. It wasn't until I met my cousin ( who looks more like my brother than me ) that I realised that gene was inside us. Thanks a million.
A broken arrow is a common symbol in Serbian traditional songs, meaning that after a victory, the weapon breaks down so that the enemy does not return. Broken weapons are placed in the graves of warriors for the same reasons, and often such broken weapons are thrown into the river.
I've been to many of these carved stones, class 1 and 2, and it is still a mystery as to what they are conveying, great to see someone at least trying to decipher the mystery. What amazed me is the beautiful stylisation that hints at either the same artist or a standardisation reflecting a lost pictographic language. There are markings on some stones we saw that were on stone circles that look far more ancient and scratched out like a T with two bars that I noticed also at a circle/cairn on a farmer's land near Mulloch forest, beneath and around from the seven stanes. Why did the Scottish natives forget what they meant and what they were for if they've been there all this time as a people ? The V rod symbol looks like a bow, a spear and a 'ceremonial' mace.
They forgot cause in late 1800s and early 1900s they replaced many populations with children of no parents who were brainwashed and Educated with a new narrative. Thus not listening to the elders of the land as they died out and thus forgotten cause the new inhabitats dictated the narative that we hear today
Excellent video! I have visited many of these enigmatic stones on my many trips to your fair country and was fortunate to see the Dupplin Cross in situ. The harpist on the side was particularly moving for me… and I got to sit alone with this magnificent sculpture for several hours until dusk began to settle over the valley below. While that sounds nostalgic I was also keenly aware that the stone needed to be protected…glad to see that has now been done. Your video is beautifully shot, edited, narrated and produced. Congratulations!
Thanks for the excellent endorsement. We are both amateurs but put a lot of effort into getting everything as correct as possible. We are learning as we go along.
OUTSTANDING videography and photography. Outstanding presentation, both in content and in articulation. I especially appreciate the presenter speaking in complete sentences, using proper grammar... quite a contrast to the informal street-language articulations of many RUclips presenters today, who seem not to know that there are standards for proper discourse ! But then, few people today are even able to write a composition using proper English style and grammar.
Informative presentation! I really enjoyed the live shots of the stones and the clarification of the symbols. It's equally refreshing to find an objective viewpoint, where an ancient civilisation is concerned - We are on RUclips, after all.
I watched a video on youtube saying the celtic cross whch it will probably come out its accually the picts cross was also a wooden device to navigate at night. so the crosses carved on a stone might have been more like an instruction manual for what that would look like. maybe and this is just a personal observation that the symbol is related to the sun and the moon maybe in order to teach children about the calender year and when to plant seeds ect :-)
Hi there and greetings from Germany! I've got a good friend in Peterhead whom we frequently visit. One year we focussed on the castles in this area, the stone circles and last time we focussed on Pictish stones and climbed up to some Pictish forrtresses. I .ike to just sit in front of them and londer about what these enigmatic symbols might have meant and why the Picts just simply vanished from history. I hope that these stones will keep their mystery and look forward to visit bonnie Scotland again. Currently I wear a small silver plate with the V rod and the moon symbol on a leather band round my neck.
Great work, thank you. The meaning of the symbols is still speculative, but one thing I would suggest: the idea that a mirror and comb is female is anachronistic. It is a modern idea that looking good and being concerned with appearance is something female! For most of history male warriors wore jewelry, dressed their hair, and were very fussy about their clothes - just as much, if not more, than women.
The key to unlocking the mystery of the Picts is their art. Maybe like the hieroglyphics there's a message communicated in the pictures. Speaking from beyond the grave!
The v-crescent at 4:30 certainly looks like a broken arrow and a bow to me, reminiscent of the bent swords that the Celts were fond of burying with dead warriors and the like. The double disc could be a broken spear and a shield but I've never seen a shield exactly like that before (though the famous bronze one dredged from the Thames is kinda close; and oddly enough the Mycenean figure-eight shield seems closest).
I am from a country in the UK called Wales a very Celtic country, on the farm I work on there is a standing stone with engravings on it of a what looks like a mirror a snake and what could be some type of comb, anybody knows what this could mean?
This is great. I'm from about 18 miles from Bennachie. Some of the family had a large farm near there. great to see other people enjoying learning about our culture
I love history and am drawn to the ancient highlands in my heart. Instinctually, my brain interprets the symbols very differently. Far more fantastical. Like an epic fantasy imagery.
these stones were probably moved numerous times in prehistory as well as in recent times - further complicating our understanding of origin and meaning. Sacred objects and sites have been re-used, desecrated, poorly "excavated", redefined and integrated into later traditions since the earliest times. It is hard not to think the "crescent and v-rod" is a broken arrow and bow symbolizing an end to a conflict, a surrender, or a peace treaty.
or signifying locations and clans. Could the snake be a river and the mounds the paps of Danu? The mirror and comb symbolizing not women but the vain and well-groomed Nords. They could be telling a story with the symbols of different people and places. Each symbol an identifier of tribes?
2:48 a bit like the masonic square n compass. Or could represent the 2 yearly solstice' (sun setting between 2 hills, and looks about rite with the angle of the rod. Maybe the solstice' can be seen best from that site as other depictions do not have the same design inside the crescent)
Cross symbolises divinity in a presence of a man. Horizontal line being the time line and vertical line spiritual, as in nature all that is significant to a man; for example a tree, plant, the growth itself, is vertical and the circle around the middle symbolises rebirth, sun conforting nature, wich replenishes in itself.
so nothing to do with orions belt or the procession of the equinoxes? (which weirdly enough, ALL cultures across the world seemed to revere im some way be that standing stones, church crosses or the Giza Pyramids which literally represent Orions Belt and align with it) nothing to do with psuedo "divinity of man" nonsense, just simple primitive perceptions of the cosmos and science being lost in translation throughout time (amongst major losses to actual humanity such as the burning of the library of alexandria or the spanish when they burned and destroyed many aztec artifacts and scriptures)
I think 2:50 tells that someone had died during hunting. It must have been common during that time. The broken bow and arrow and the beast standing over it...
Well I would say the cultural development could perhaps signify the end of the war. I guess there are few hundred years between them and the third, large stone could be an actual text. And could it be about the same time Rosetta stone was made? 100 years here or there. Presuming that a man kind was evolutioning exactly same way all over the world be wrong as wars and ecological factors affected them.
Thank you for your videos. Now for some questions: After seeing so many of these symbols* referred to as disks and double disks etc); I see a possible connection between them and stone circles. Could it be that they are markers for these stone circles? A marker on a road/pathway to them? I've seen the snake/serpent symbol described as energy...there are many earthen mounds shaped like serpents and have been shown to have higher levels of magnetic energy than surrounding areas. Could the snake/serpent symbol denote energies?
There were serpentine people dwelling in these parts of the British isles. Scotland Ireland and some other island. So there is this possible territorial marking? Or 'the way to' their shamans for spiritual healing or guidance?
Has anyone tried to look at this from the perspective of archeoasteonomy? The first one you show looks especially like the sunrise on Taurus(?) Maybe it was part of a calendar (like stone henge)?
Can u do an bird eye view of the stones in the beginning. Z-rod is two compasses illustrating as above so below. that when a measurement is made the out come is predetermined. Also some of these stones would be like a business card / knowledge of mathematical theorems
Yes indeed, very well done. I wish Joseph Campbell could have had a look at the meaning of the symbols. The two discs, circle objects could represent one of the basic tenants of the perennial philosophy of duality and the going between the primary thoughts of fear and desire. I would think that would be the starting point, which makes me question Mr Professor. No reflection on the documentary. He is stating as it is...sort of.
I think this guy needed to talk to a calculus or mathematician that understands what symbols translate to the cosmos and changes to the earth. The symbol of the crescent and v rod is found on standing stones which were usually a part of a grouping of stones which aligned with equinoxes and solstices. Hence the culture tracked their planting and harvest times. Using a sun path diagram at a north Scotland longitude gives you an outline of the crescent v rod symbol. It is exact symbol at Aberdeen's longitude of 57 degrees. The 2 discs with the z rod through them remind me of energy symbols or the vortex. Human kinds pushed idea that simple cultures were not so intelligent is very wrong. Their stones conveyed important information.
Thank you for the info on these theories. When we saw the stone age caves in France along the Dordogne we were told by the guides the symbols were thought to designate different tribes or groups living in the area , although they are much simpler and primitive dating back 10,000-30,000 yrs . Same thing, many animals and then circles and discs. One thing that is interesting is on these Scot stone there appears to be arrows. In France, along the Vezere no arrows at all, but remember those stone carvings are much earlier. One thing that appear there in France is something that seems to represent a fence or net. So, it appears in those very early days, they did not have arrows, were trapping the animals with nets and bludgening them with stones.
My own view is that the "Rosetta Stone", at least for one particular symbol, you show in the video. In the Sculptors Cave you show a carving of a Crescent and V-rod. To my eyes, this can only have one single interpretation - a bow and a broken arrow. The extreme antiquity of these symbols is then attested by the fact that a high degree of stylisation has been applied to the later carvings, which has somewhat obscured their composition. Hence, the "orange segment" shape of the simple bow (yew longbow), later became stylised with the bowstring curving "in sympathy" with the curve of the bow, to create a crescent shape. The stylised forms at either end of the V-rod are generally slightly different, as they symbolise the head and the fletchings of the arrow. This can be much more clearly seen in the Sculptors Cave carving. Also, V-rods and indeed Z-rods are very often carved with a deltoid shape in the crux of the angles of the rods. This I believe to be an allusion to how the fibres of wood splinter and separate, when a wooden rod is broken in half. The fibres on the outside of the break will remain straight, but those on the inside of the break will bend into a curve, and not break. Thereby inferring the deltoid shape carved in the V and Z-rods. As the V-rods were broken arrows, so the Z-rods were broken spears, depicted over the top of figure 8 shaped shields ("Double Disk" shape). In the manner of the Battersea Shield housed in the British Museum. The "elephant" or "whale", to my mind is actually a stylised depiction of an intact animal hide (deer hide?). Which has undergone a certain amount of drying, as can be seen on the legs and the belly, which have curlicues carved into them, to indicate the curling of the skin as it dries. The curved line emanating from the top of the head - and tail, could well indicate a thong used to hang the hide while drying. The "Tuning Fork" and the rectangular shape, with often two curved extremities emanating from the corner of the rectangle both indicate (to my mind) iron razors for shaving the face. Archaeological examples of these can be found in various places, as can modern reproductions, and they follow on from the shape of bronze precedents. This interpretation partners other symbols, such as the Comb and Mirror, as implements of personal grooming. I think the distribution of these symbols, and the extreme age of them (as symbols) which is evidenced by the high degree of stylisation the later carvings depict, leads me to conclude that they were in fact tribal symbols. In the manner of, say, Soccer badges. Which if correct would lead one to the conclusion that "The Picts" were in fact a CONFEDERATION of pre-Roman indigenous Brythonic speaking tribes, which had existed in Scotland since time immemorial. The inscription of a particular symbol (V-rod, Animal Skin, Z-rod, etc.) on a given stone being an indication of the "jurisdiction" and/or dedication to, which tribes the stone came under. Therefore a V-rod might symbolise the Novantae, and the Z-rod might symbolise the Selgovae (although those kingdoms were in the south west of Scotland - possibly the "Southern Pictland" of Bede). The more symbols within a given carved stone would indicate a greater number of "Pictish" tribes/kingdoms to whom the stone is dedicated. The fact that there are carved Pictish symbols at the gateway to Trusty's Hill in Dumfries and Galloway would indicate that there were indeed surviving "Southern Picts" who had not yet been superseded by later immigrant kingdoms. The presence of the Z-rod on this particular carved stone could thus indicate that the other symbol (a Carnyx) could well have been the tribal insignia of the Novantae, partnered with the Z-rod which would indicate the over-arching "Pictish" confederacy/Kingdom. Al speculation, of course. But I believe this hypothesis to be in-line with currently known evidence.
As to the ostensible hand mirrors: what were the polished surfaces made of? The glass or obsidian or polished metal or whatever should have survived. Has any such relic been found?
@@diaanite I think that depends on what one means by 'culture'. Mirrors may have made people vainer, or more self-conscious. I'd guess some people spent a lot of time looking into their mirrors, maybe the way so many are always looking at their phones now. :) I don't think these old polished stone or polished metal mirrors were that clear, though. My understanding is that mirrors were the equivalent of hi-tech luxury goods for a long time (or maybe that's only mirrors like modern ones). I'd guess there were a few lines in love poems or songs about how a beautiful woman doesn't need to look into a mirror, and other sentiments we'd find cliché now. I doubt having mirrors contributed much, but it's an interesting question.
Hand mirrors are often found in Etruscan graves, with Etruscan writing carved into the polished surface: possibly a way of decommissioning them. But I think there are no confirmed Pictish burials.
would you happen to know the name of the river you're walking by or the location name of where you are at 0:55 to 1:06? It's beautiful! If anybody knows it would be super helpful!
Class 1 Pictish stones-Pre Christianity. Class 2 Pictish stones-The amalgamation of Pagan and Christian beliefs. Class 3 Pictish stones-The leaving behind of the Pictish Pagan beliefs and full embracement of Christiany.
Hi Scott, The Pictish stone you refer to in Symbols and Signs is the Brandsbutt stone in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. Experts in Ogham say is reads IRATADDOARENS (from the bottom to the top) but the meaning of this is not clear. Your question on the holes in some symbol stones is an interesting one but I can't give you much of an answer. There is no overarching agreed explanation that I am aware of and the reasons will be specific to a particular stone. There is a view that the holes were probably drilled in much later periods-18th and 19th centuries, and may be associated with moving the stones from one site to another. The experts on everything Pictish are the Pictish Arts Society who are a mine of information and who might be able to give you a much better answer, and advances in Pictish archaeology at the moment are being pushed forward by Professor Gordon Noble and his team at Aberdeen University with their Northern Picts Project. Regards, Alan Short
@@dipinvideo Across Europe there are several standing stones with holes in them, but not all of them. On the Pictish stones with holes, many of the carvings seem to go around or use the hole.
many stones placed in a circle dating back to the Bronze Age were found in Khakassia (Siberia), Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and some of them are carved. Some stones are up to 6 meters high
As others have said that inverted V shape looks like a broken arrow, point at one end, feathers at the other. Simply as an old man and not as a scholar, I suggest that that could mean "the man died". The arrow, for its symbolism of maleness, gets broken when the man dies. Is it possible that the mirror and the comb is a similar message: "Here was a woman."
Except we have no reason to be sure that their society was the same as later ones in terms of only men using arrows. In fact, Roman writings about Picts specifically report that the warriors were both male and female. And men have been known to be at least as proud about their hair as women in, for example, Viking and various American Indian societies.
I have many many objects with weird and amazing sculptures on them and find them in North East England, north of the Tyne and they're the most astonishing sculptures, and I would love to know who has made them. They're high class sculpture that leave you baffled.
I have looked into the picts some, on my moms side im of mostly Irish ancestary so the area interests me. My husband is from a Scottish tribe the Mcpharlans his grandpa was protestant scottish and his grandma was scottish Catholic. Was explaning all that to get to why it interests me so much before getting to my thoughts. From what ive looked into i think the picts people are a lost tribe of Isreal that fleed that are thru the caucus mountains.
The crescent is a BOW, the V is a broken arrow. Signifies the power of warfare ended, perhaps means a peace between warring tribes. As in this is a place of peace.
yes there is Pictish DNA results being found in the Scots which makes sense. It would be northern DNA and the Armstrong family has discovered this.It makes sense that the pictish people lived and mixed into the other kingdoms.
The picti roman label, are mix of cymru Welsh and scoti Ireland. McKay the fìrst registered clan married Donald clan chief daughter to start first highland clans.
I always thought the z rod symbols were more indicitive of plant matter than a spear or arrow. The picts are very naturalistic in their depictions of things they see in daily life... i always thought they were fertility symbolism, they always begin with a sprout like symbol and then concludes in leaves or wheat like tendrils. If it was a spear or arrow i think theyd just carve it that way realistically. The double discs could be thought of as solar, while the crescent can obviously be thought of as indicitive of some type of lunar activity. The growth of crops, the seasonal changes and the rituals involved, it wouldnt be a stretch to hypothesize that the picts had some manner of astronomical knowledge.. they had to have seen and noticed such events as the moon's cycle, or solar and lunar eclipses, the length of days and amounts of daylight, etc. For a while i also thought these symbols could be boundary markers- the picts were known for their silver craft.. i wonder if the comb and mirror were a clan symbol? Or a city symbol? Maybe The clan/place of silversmiths? Or even an ancient silver mine? The disk and rod shapes could symbolize farmland areas and families, the dolphin/elephant creature could symbolize the ocean/coastal fishing areas and the clans that operate there. But Who really knows right? the lightning strike idea, and the two burial mounds with broken spears and arrows idea for the z-rod symbols was a new theory to me. So nice to see some actual quality info on the picts... there's just such a small amount of it out there and even fewer people who are actually looking for it
As for the Pictish stone around 7:20, it seems very possible that they were territory markers, with the Christians on one side and the Picts and other pagans the other. I'm not claiming that all Picts were pagan btw, just curious if that's plausible.
Seem more like landmarks of territories marked with titles of nobles and kings , could the connected circular (OO) things be chariot wheels with spears.??. The animal carvings look a lot like those of Göbekli Tepe
Very interesting. I was taught as a child that the crescent and v-rod was an instruction on how to build calendar - at sunrise on midsummer, you place three tall stones in the ground in a triangle, so the tallest stone’s shadow falls between the other two, and the angle from the tallest stone to the other two matches the angle of the v-rod. The next year, you watch the sunrise shadow each morning, and when it touches the first of the smaller stones, it’s time to sow. When the sunrise shadow reaches the second of the smaller stones, it’s time to harvest. I’m sure the climate was different back then, but as a rudimentary calendar, this does still work for the short growing season in Orkney, where I grew up.
Your story of the harvest ‘calendar’ is really interesting. Have you shared it with Orkneyjar? I’m sure that The Pictish Arts Society would like to know about it.
Although some writers on the Picts have interpreted the Crescent and V Rod as a pelta (small shield) and a broken arrow, others have suggested that the angle of the V Rod was linked to calculations of the summer and winter solstices for the reason you mention.( The comment by Divine I above, makes a similar point.)
Some writers have likened the Crescent to a crescent moon, and the V Rod to a broken sheaf of corn or barley. The floriations at the ends of some V Rods have been interpreted as symbols of fertility-which also connects to the harvest theme. Some of them remind me of hairst knots made at harvest time.Not all V Rods however have these decorations.
The problem is that even if the Crescent and V Rod symbol was based upon a farming sundial, this does not necessarily mean that the symbol actually represents one. Pictish scholars would point out that the problem with interpreting the symbols in this way is that even if the Crescent and V Rod is a pictorial representation of a kind of sundial, the symbol might have been intended to convey a completely different meaning.
Some recent thinking sees the symbols as personal names, and one writer, W.D Cummings, has suggested that the Crescent and V Rod represents the name Brude /Brithei. Not everyone agrees !
The search for the symbol code is clearly alive and well !
I am entirely unconvinced that any farmers needed stones to tell them when to sow their seed. This always seems like the inventions of fanciful Edwardian and Victorian antiquarians who had never even held a spade never mind used one.
Having grown fruit and veg in N W England from age 16 to my mid 50s I cannot recall ever having recourse to the calendar when deciding when to start gardening. We waited till the worst of the winter rain had stopped and the ground dried a little. That could be anytime from early March to early April.
Planting, again depended on the weather. We waited till the soil had warmed a little. Ie we had had some sunshine. We judged the land was ready by walking on it and looking.
No one needs a set of stones to notice that the trees are coming into leaf. That the grass is growing. That birds are nesting. Ewes ready to lamb. That the days are longer and the weather more clement.
i used to believe all the old wives explanations until I thought about it. Feast days and festivals are fixed to coincide with nature. Etc.
Phrygians of Greek Anotolia have the same symbols , the Gordian knott and shield
Makes sense that it could represent this method of tracking seasons, but if this was a commonly used/known method at the time I can’t imagine they would feel the need to immortalize it in stone all over the place. As mentioned, the symbol might have been intended to convey an entirely different meaning. Example, the walking figure at a crosswalk tells you this is where you cross. It’s not intended to teach you how to walk.
@@helenamcginty4920 It's far more likely that celestial events were used for determining religious dates, much like Easter still is. For deeply religious people knowing when to perform certain rites was just as important as knowing when to plant corn.
In an era of glitz and HD and history know it alls and wanna be's... I thank you for your work and time and effort! I just read down through the comments... everyone is an expert when sitting behind their computer at a safe distance... the truth is most ALL is speculation, AND as in most history, it will ever evolve as sites are dug and examined and new technologies are afforded... but taking the film to the various places in the landscape, and sharing your version, is fabulous... we can all draw our own conclusions, but not without your film. I appreciate your individuality on all of it! Much needed in a world full of 'sameness' and 'judgement'! Thank you!!
As a student at uni, I did a big project on the Picts so I had the excuse to travel all over Scotland visiting the stones and taking photos. Many a cold night camping in a field, but well worth it.
Great videos. As someone who is of Irish, Welsh, and German ancestry, I find this history of our ancestors fascinating. We are certainly diverse. My brother was a curly ginger haired man in a straight dark-haired family and seemed out of place. It wasn't until I met my cousin ( who looks more like my brother than me ) that I realised that gene was inside us. Thanks a million.
A broken arrow is a common symbol in Serbian traditional songs, meaning that after a victory, the weapon breaks down so that the enemy does not return. Broken weapons are placed in the graves of warriors for the same reasons, and often such broken weapons are thrown into the river.
My great grandfather was from Scotland. My last name was Douglass. Thank you for the information you provided. I am from the USA.
I've been to many of these carved stones, class 1 and 2, and it is still a mystery as to what they are conveying, great to see someone at least trying to decipher the mystery. What amazed me is the beautiful stylisation that hints at either the same artist or a standardisation reflecting a lost pictographic language. There are markings on some stones we saw that were on stone circles that look far more ancient and scratched out like a T with two bars that I noticed also at a circle/cairn on a farmer's land near Mulloch forest, beneath and around from the seven stanes. Why did the Scottish natives forget what they meant and what they were for if they've been there all this time as a people ? The V rod symbol looks like a bow, a spear and a 'ceremonial' mace.
They forgot cause in late 1800s and early 1900s they replaced many populations with children of no parents who were brainwashed and Educated with a new narrative. Thus not listening to the elders of the land as they died out and thus forgotten cause the new inhabitats dictated the narative that we hear today
An elephant or mammoth carved on a stone might indicate that the site might be thousands of years older than than many people would’ve imagined.
Excellent video! I have visited many of these enigmatic stones on my many trips to your fair country and was fortunate to see the Dupplin Cross in situ. The harpist on the side was particularly moving for me… and I got to sit alone with this magnificent sculpture for several hours until dusk began to settle over the valley below. While that sounds nostalgic I was also keenly aware that the stone needed to be protected…glad to see that has now been done. Your video is beautifully shot, edited, narrated and produced. Congratulations!
Brilliant stuff. It is relatively hard to find good information about the Picts. This is the best that I have come across.
Good stuff, not not entirely accurate.
Grimm Fandango nothing is from that time
@@rabbc007 some people remember what the Romans did to the world
Excellent upload, this is a very good documentary, informative and enjoyable, all the things a good BBC documentary USED to be.
Thanks for the excellent endorsement. We are both amateurs but put a lot of effort into getting everything as correct as possible. We are learning as we go along.
OUTSTANDING videography and photography. Outstanding presentation, both in content and in articulation. I especially appreciate the presenter speaking in complete sentences, using proper grammar... quite a contrast to the informal street-language articulations of many RUclips presenters today, who seem not to know that there are standards for proper discourse ! But then, few people today are even able to write a composition using proper English style and grammar.
Thanks so much ! I learned my great grama Fanny Couts, born near Aberdeen, was in the oldest developed area in Scotland from you. Nice.
You know most of my life I've been told that the Celts and the pics had no written language... thank you for bringing this to my attention.
MISFITS
Informative presentation! I really enjoyed the live shots of the stones and the clarification of the symbols. It's equally refreshing to find an objective viewpoint, where an ancient civilisation is concerned - We are on RUclips, after all.
Random observation - At 4:43 the crescent and v-rod looks a lot like a bow and broken/bent arrow.
Like a broken arrow also...if you see the break on the bottom
I see two flowers one closed in the morning and the other in full bloom in the evening with the hills and sun peaking up in the middle of two hills
I watched a video on youtube saying the celtic cross whch it will probably come out its accually the picts cross was also a wooden device to navigate at night. so the crosses carved on a stone might have been more like an instruction manual for what that would look like. maybe and this is just a personal observation that the symbol is related to the sun and the moon maybe in order to teach children about the calender year and when to plant seeds ect :-)
It means Peace... With the bent Willow Bow it is a House of Peace. In benediction it is Peace Be Upon This House. - TPO
David Ware .. how do you know it means peace ? I emphasize how
This is a fascinating subject and a brilliantly made documentary . Thanks .
A superb piece of documentary work. Well done!
Hi there and greetings from Germany! I've got a good friend in Peterhead whom we frequently visit. One year we focussed on the castles in this area, the stone circles and last time we focussed on Pictish stones and climbed up to some Pictish forrtresses. I .ike to just sit in front of them and londer about what these enigmatic symbols might have meant and why the Picts just simply vanished from history. I hope that these stones will keep their mystery and look forward to visit bonnie Scotland again. Currently I wear a small silver plate with the V rod and the moon symbol on a leather band round my neck.
Very good documenary , good research and well explained. Finally! Thanks from Germany
Great work, thank you.
The meaning of the symbols is still speculative, but one thing I would suggest: the idea that a mirror and comb is female is anachronistic. It is a modern idea that looking good and being concerned with appearance is something female!
For most of history male warriors wore jewelry, dressed their hair, and were very fussy about their clothes - just as much, if not more, than women.
The key to unlocking the mystery of the Picts is their art. Maybe like the hieroglyphics there's a message communicated in the pictures. Speaking from beyond the grave!
The v-crescent at 4:30 certainly looks like a broken arrow and a bow to me, reminiscent of the bent swords that the Celts were fond of burying with dead warriors and the like. The double disc could be a broken spear and a shield but I've never seen a shield exactly like that before (though the famous bronze one dredged from the Thames is kinda close; and oddly enough the Mycenean figure-eight shield seems closest).
Striking image 15:24 . Oddly intrigued by the ebb and flow of the shields.
Thank you for this presentation.
I am from a country in the UK called Wales a very Celtic country, on the farm I work on there is a standing stone with engravings on it of a what looks like a mirror a snake and what could be some type of comb, anybody knows what this could mean?
Snake could mean the person has died of sickness, comb could relate to his profession, and the mirror notes that it's a burial.
Have you contacted your county archaeologist?
There is a legend that the medieval kingdom of Gwynedd was founded by a Pict called Cunneda
U sound very lucky to live in such a beautiful place
@@diaanite gosh your very clever 🤓
I learned a lot, thank you for sharing. Warm regards from Portugal!
This is really well done !
I just watched this in class ❤
Heheh
I watched a different one
Nvm
This is great. I'm from about 18 miles from Bennachie. Some of the family had a large farm near there. great to see other people enjoying learning about our culture
Thank you. This information makes me want to dig deeper into the history of the Irish and Scotts peoples.
I know Gobekli Tepe was thousands of years earlier but there is alot of similarities.
Ogham script at 9:22, on the left side of the stone.
Yes, Good observation
Nice video my friend, great research. Thank you.
Excellent presentation. Outstanding narration.
Thank you this was so very interesting about to watch the next one now!
I love history and am drawn to the ancient highlands in my heart. Instinctually, my brain interprets the symbols very differently. Far more fantastical. Like an epic fantasy imagery.
these stones were probably moved numerous times in prehistory as well as in recent times - further complicating our understanding of origin and meaning. Sacred objects and sites have been re-used, desecrated, poorly "excavated", redefined and integrated into later traditions since the earliest times. It is hard not to think the "crescent and v-rod" is a broken arrow and bow symbolizing an end to a conflict, a surrender, or a peace treaty.
there may be a clue at 19:59 as there is a message in the oldest language, Ogham running up the stone on the left side.
or signifying locations and clans. Could the snake be a river and the mounds the paps of Danu? The mirror and comb symbolizing not women but the vain and well-groomed Nords. They could be telling a story with the symbols of different people and places. Each symbol an identifier of tribes?
yep, really enjoyed this. well presented.
At 4:35 I see a bow and arrow (arrow head on the left, tail end on the right), although the arrow is angled/bent. I have had a few though.
Very enjoyable. Thank you for your work.
2:48 a bit like the masonic square n compass. Or could represent the 2 yearly solstice' (sun setting between 2 hills, and looks about rite with the angle of the rod. Maybe the solstice' can be seen best from that site as other depictions do not have the same design inside the crescent)
Cross symbolises divinity in a presence of a man. Horizontal line being the time line and vertical line spiritual, as in nature all that is significant to a man; for example a tree, plant, the growth itself, is vertical and the circle around the middle symbolises rebirth, sun conforting nature, wich replenishes in itself.
Or, St. Columba's mission reaped a bit of fruit in Christianizing the Picts?
Nutter. American?
so nothing to do with orions belt or the procession of the equinoxes? (which weirdly enough, ALL cultures across the world seemed to revere im some way be that standing stones, church crosses or the Giza Pyramids which literally represent Orions Belt and align with it)
nothing to do with psuedo "divinity of man" nonsense, just simple primitive perceptions of the cosmos and science being lost in translation throughout time (amongst major losses to actual humanity such as the burning of the library of alexandria or the spanish when they burned and destroyed many aztec artifacts and scriptures)
I think 2:50 tells that someone had died during hunting. It must have been common during that time. The broken bow and arrow and the beast standing over it...
The one at 6:00 the double discs could maybe signify a union of two hunting tribes.
Well I would say the cultural development could perhaps signify the end of the war. I guess there are few hundred years between them and the third, large stone could be an actual text. And could it be about the same time Rosetta stone was made? 100 years here or there. Presuming that a man kind was evolutioning exactly same way all over the world be wrong as wars and ecological factors affected them.
Thank you for your videos. Now for some questions: After seeing so many of these symbols* referred to as disks and double disks etc); I see a possible connection between them and stone circles. Could it be that they are markers for these stone circles? A marker on a road/pathway to them? I've seen the snake/serpent symbol described as energy...there are many earthen mounds shaped like serpents and have been shown to have higher levels of magnetic energy than surrounding areas. Could the snake/serpent symbol denote energies?
There were serpentine people dwelling in these parts of the British isles. Scotland Ireland and some other island. So there is this possible territorial marking? Or 'the way to' their shamans for spiritual healing or guidance?
the stones stand at the boundary of petty kingdoms, (estates, baronies, areas, parishes etc)as do early singular prehistoric stones
Thank you very much from Texas.
Has anyone tried to look at this from the perspective of archeoasteonomy? The first one you show looks especially like the sunrise on Taurus(?) Maybe it was part of a calendar (like stone henge)?
yes sir i agree, they are magnificent, thank you for sharing
I have always found Pictish history fascinating and the little we know about it just adds to the mystique.
I'm loving these!!!
Pictish draw-ids of the cairnish culture are a great historical connection for Picards, Packards, Pickelners, and Picassos.
Simply fascinating!
I believe that the Pictish Beast really is an elephant from the ancient world.
I always looked at it as being an early water horse (kelpie)
Can u do an bird eye view of the stones in the beginning. Z-rod is two compasses illustrating as above so below. that when a measurement is made the out come is predetermined. Also some of these stones would be like a business card / knowledge of mathematical theorems
Yes indeed, very well done. I wish Joseph Campbell could have had a look at the meaning of the symbols. The two discs, circle objects could represent one of the basic tenants of the perennial philosophy of duality and the going between the primary thoughts of fear and desire. I would think that would be the starting point, which makes me question Mr Professor. No reflection on the documentary. He is stating as it is...sort of.
I think this guy needed to talk to a calculus or mathematician that understands what symbols translate to the cosmos and changes to the earth. The symbol of the crescent and v rod is found on standing stones which were usually a part of a grouping of stones which aligned with equinoxes and solstices. Hence the culture tracked their planting and harvest times. Using a sun path diagram at a north Scotland longitude gives you an outline of the crescent v rod symbol. It is exact symbol at Aberdeen's longitude of 57 degrees. The 2 discs with the z rod through them remind me of energy symbols or the vortex. Human kinds pushed idea that simple cultures were not so intelligent is very wrong. Their stones conveyed important information.
Excellent. Thank you sir, liked and subbed.
6.30 Translation is "Do not hunt with Dolphins 2 Lunar months before and after the Shortest Day.". There is more I cannot make out.
Thank you for the info on these theories. When we saw the stone age caves in France along the Dordogne we were told by the guides the symbols were thought to designate different tribes or groups living in the area , although they are much simpler and primitive dating back 10,000-30,000 yrs . Same thing, many animals and then circles and discs. One thing that is interesting is on these Scot stone there appears to be arrows. In France, along the Vezere no arrows at all, but remember those stone carvings are much earlier. One thing that appear there in France is something that seems to represent a fence or net. So, it appears in those very early days, they did not have arrows, were trapping the animals with nets and bludgening them with stones.
fabulous introduction to Pictish petroglyphs
Great video Mr short thank you
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏 so much interesting information.
Great video, thank you.
Fantastic channel and content
My own view is that the "Rosetta Stone", at least for one particular symbol, you show in the video. In the Sculptors Cave you show a carving of a Crescent and V-rod. To my eyes, this can only have one single interpretation - a bow and a broken arrow. The extreme antiquity of these symbols is then attested by the fact that a high degree of stylisation has been applied to the later carvings, which has somewhat obscured their composition. Hence, the "orange segment" shape of the simple bow (yew longbow), later became stylised with the bowstring curving "in sympathy" with the curve of the bow, to create a crescent shape. The stylised forms at either end of the V-rod are generally slightly different, as they symbolise the head and the fletchings of the arrow. This can be much more clearly seen in the Sculptors Cave carving. Also, V-rods and indeed Z-rods are very often carved with a deltoid shape in the crux of the angles of the rods. This I believe to be an allusion to how the fibres of wood splinter and separate, when a wooden rod is broken in half. The fibres on the outside of the break will remain straight, but those on the inside of the break will bend into a curve, and not break. Thereby inferring the deltoid shape carved in the V and Z-rods. As the V-rods were broken arrows, so the Z-rods were broken spears, depicted over the top of figure 8 shaped shields ("Double Disk" shape). In the manner of the Battersea Shield housed in the British Museum.
The "elephant" or "whale", to my mind is actually a stylised depiction of an intact animal hide (deer hide?). Which has undergone a certain amount of drying, as can be seen on the legs and the belly, which have curlicues carved into them, to indicate the curling of the skin as it dries. The curved line emanating from the top of the head - and tail, could well indicate a thong used to hang the hide while drying. The "Tuning Fork" and the rectangular shape, with often two curved extremities emanating from the corner of the rectangle both indicate (to my mind) iron razors for shaving the face. Archaeological examples of these can be found in various places, as can modern reproductions, and they follow on from the shape of bronze precedents. This interpretation partners other symbols, such as the Comb and Mirror, as implements of personal grooming.
I think the distribution of these symbols, and the extreme age of them (as symbols) which is evidenced by the high degree of stylisation the later carvings depict, leads me to conclude that they were in fact tribal symbols. In the manner of, say, Soccer badges. Which if correct would lead one to the conclusion that "The Picts" were in fact a CONFEDERATION of pre-Roman indigenous Brythonic speaking tribes, which had existed in Scotland since time immemorial. The inscription of a particular symbol (V-rod, Animal Skin, Z-rod, etc.) on a given stone being an indication of the "jurisdiction" and/or dedication to, which tribes the stone came under. Therefore a V-rod might symbolise the Novantae, and the Z-rod might symbolise the Selgovae (although those kingdoms were in the south west of Scotland - possibly the "Southern Pictland" of Bede). The more symbols within a given carved stone would indicate a greater number of "Pictish" tribes/kingdoms to whom the stone is dedicated. The fact that there are carved Pictish symbols at the gateway to Trusty's Hill in Dumfries and Galloway would indicate that there were indeed surviving "Southern Picts" who had not yet been superseded by later immigrant kingdoms. The presence of the Z-rod on this particular carved stone could thus indicate that the other symbol (a Carnyx) could well have been the tribal insignia of the Novantae, partnered with the Z-rod which would indicate the over-arching "Pictish" confederacy/Kingdom.
Al speculation, of course. But I believe this hypothesis to be in-line with currently known evidence.
The bow crescent and 'arrow' eventually morphed into freemasonry 'angle and compass' which is rooted into ancient people of Britain and Scotland
Thank you for the videos
9:24 and 18:48 the left side of the stone is definitely a plasma discharge.
As to the ostensible hand mirrors: what were the polished surfaces made of? The glass or obsidian or polished metal or whatever should have survived. Has any such relic been found?
I presume its also a time when mirrors came around, do you think, people having a mirror, had contributed to cultural growth?
@@diaanite I think that depends on what one means by 'culture'. Mirrors may have made people vainer, or more self-conscious. I'd guess some people spent a lot of time looking into their mirrors, maybe the way so many are always looking at their phones now. :) I don't think these old polished stone or polished metal mirrors were that clear, though. My understanding is that mirrors were the equivalent of hi-tech luxury goods for a long time (or maybe that's only mirrors like modern ones). I'd guess there were a few lines in love poems or songs about how a beautiful woman doesn't need to look into a mirror, and other sentiments we'd find cliché now. I doubt having mirrors contributed much, but it's an interesting question.
@@LynxSouth I ment the rise of painting, capturing what they see in mirror.
@@LynxSouth and hence striving for more beauty, and rise of new era.. Mirror truly is a legendary thing.
Hand mirrors are often found in Etruscan graves, with Etruscan writing carved into the polished surface: possibly a way of decommissioning them. But I think there are no confirmed Pictish burials.
I enjoyed this video very much....however the stone at 18:44 puzzled me....could the line markings on the right hand side of the stone be ogham?
would you happen to know the name of the river you're walking by or the location name of where you are at 0:55 to 1:06? It's beautiful! If anybody knows it would be super helpful!
Class 1 Pictish stones-Pre Christianity.
Class 2 Pictish stones-The amalgamation of Pagan and Christian beliefs.
Class 3 Pictish stones-The leaving behind of the Pictish Pagan beliefs and full embracement of Christiany.
The Pictish stone at 9:32 looks like it has Ogham writing on the left side. What does it say?
Hi Scott,
The Pictish stone you refer to in Symbols and Signs is the Brandsbutt stone in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. Experts in Ogham say is reads IRATADDOARENS (from the bottom to the top) but the meaning of this is not clear.
Your question on the holes in some symbol stones is an interesting one but I can't give you much of an answer. There is no overarching agreed explanation that I am aware of and the reasons will be specific to a particular stone. There is a view that the holes were probably drilled in much later periods-18th and 19th centuries, and may be associated with moving the stones from one site to another.
The experts on everything Pictish are the Pictish Arts Society who are a mine of information and who might be able to give you a much better answer, and advances in Pictish archaeology at the moment are being pushed forward by Professor Gordon Noble and his team at Aberdeen University with their Northern Picts Project.
Regards,
Alan Short
@@dipinvideo Across Europe there are several standing stones with holes in them, but not all of them. On the Pictish stones with holes, many of the carvings seem to go around or use the hole.
@@dipinvideo They've recently put out a book which is fortunately available as an ebook.
many stones placed in a circle dating back to the Bronze Age were found in Khakassia (Siberia), Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and some of them are carved. Some stones are up to 6 meters high
As others have said that inverted V shape looks like a broken arrow, point at one end, feathers at the other. Simply as an old man and not as a scholar, I suggest that that could mean "the man died". The arrow, for its symbolism of maleness, gets broken when the man dies. Is it possible that the mirror and the comb is a similar message: "Here was a woman."
Except we have no reason to be sure that their society was the same as later ones in terms of only men using arrows. In fact, Roman writings about Picts specifically report that the warriors were both male and female. And men have been known to be at least as proud about their hair as women in, for example, Viking and various American Indian societies.
In my opinion the Z-rod symbol represents the journey of the soul to the Afterlife.
I have many many objects with weird and amazing sculptures on them and find them in North East England, north of the Tyne and they're the most astonishing sculptures, and I would love to know who has made them. They're high class sculpture that leave you baffled.
I have looked into the picts some, on my moms side im of mostly Irish ancestary so the area interests me. My husband is from a Scottish tribe the Mcpharlans his grandpa was protestant scottish and his grandma was scottish Catholic. Was explaning all that to get to why it interests me so much before getting to my thoughts. From what ive looked into i think the picts people are a lost tribe of Isreal that fleed that are thru the caucus mountains.
I'm afraid your well of the beaten path
Wonderful video, I have tried several other sites saying that they are about the picts, but they don't show anything even close to this one
The crescent is a BOW, the V is a broken arrow. Signifies the power of warfare ended, perhaps means a peace between warring tribes. As in this is a place of peace.
Hunting would have also been common..
Fascinating!
I work in Angus (Glamis) I’ve found some amazing stuff out on the hill there’s even runrigs
So are there Pictish genetics in some modern day Scotts? Were the Picts Indo Europeans?
yes there is Pictish DNA results being found in the Scots which makes sense. It would be northern DNA and the Armstrong family has discovered this.It makes sense that the pictish people lived and mixed into the other kingdoms.
The picti roman label, are mix of cymru Welsh and scoti Ireland. McKay the fìrst registered clan married Donald clan chief daughter to start first highland clans.
@@lwmaynard5180 the picts were there before the scoti, let alone any gaels, and there's no evidence for them being welsh either.
I can't believe more people haven't seen this , lot of info
I always thought the z rod symbols were more indicitive of plant matter than a spear or arrow. The picts are very naturalistic in their depictions of things they see in daily life... i always thought they were fertility symbolism, they always begin with a sprout like symbol and then concludes in leaves or wheat like tendrils. If it was a spear or arrow i think theyd just carve it that way realistically. The double discs could be thought of as solar, while the crescent can obviously be thought of as indicitive of some type of lunar activity. The growth of crops, the seasonal changes and the rituals involved, it wouldnt be a stretch to hypothesize that the picts had some manner of astronomical knowledge.. they had to have seen and noticed such events as the moon's cycle, or solar and lunar eclipses, the length of days and amounts of daylight, etc.
For a while i also thought these symbols could be boundary markers- the picts were known for their silver craft.. i wonder if the comb and mirror were a clan symbol? Or a city symbol? Maybe The clan/place of silversmiths? Or even an ancient silver mine? The disk and rod shapes could symbolize farmland areas and families, the dolphin/elephant creature could symbolize the ocean/coastal fishing areas and the clans that operate there. But Who really knows right? the lightning strike idea, and the two burial mounds with broken spears and arrows idea for the z-rod symbols was a new theory to me. So nice to see some actual quality info on the picts... there's just such a small amount of it out there and even fewer people who are actually looking for it
Certainly thinking they are markers for certain territory of clans and 'races' on your way of travel thru thelands
the river boundaries of parishes do represent older boundaries, other ancient monuments correspond to these boundaries
Are the bluer tinged stones older than the other stones and could the bluer stones be a CLAN related thing?
The crescent and the v-rod sure looks like a bow with a bent arrow to me….. specifically the depiction in the cave.
As for the Pictish stone around 7:20, it seems very possible that they were territory markers, with the Christians on one side and the Picts and other pagans the other. I'm not claiming that all Picts were pagan btw, just curious if that's plausible.
Awesome Video. Thanks.
Fascinating
Has anyone tried to use the technique that was used to decipher the Maytan glyphs? As representing syllables or words?
Could they be the last remnants of a Scythian tribe?
Seem more like landmarks of territories marked with titles of nobles and kings , could the connected circular (OO) things be chariot wheels with spears.??. The animal carvings look a lot like those of Göbekli Tepe
Kenneth MacAlpinne is one my generational great grandfathers
John Love me too or so the relative who did our ancestral chart proposed.
Typical American bullshit. Why can't you just be Americans?
Y'all know he was the reason for the fall of the Picts, right? And he was a Gael.
America country of immigrants, all came from foreign countries even native Americans. USA should trace heritages.
I'm also mixed Celtic Gaul from William the conqueror 1066ad.
Thank you for this video. I have found one book about the Picts
Sir please contact me i have some more intresting stone pic for incredibal signs in stone
5:58. No explanation of these Symbols.
17.2 nice touch the colour purple saturn code :)
See them in Govan , Glasgow.