The Monumental Cemeteries of Northern Pictland

Mitchell, Juliette; Noble, Gordon

doi:10.1080/00766097.2017.1296031

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The larger square enclosures were not burial monuments; they have been interpreted as playing a role during funerary ceremonies held at a major cemetery (Noble et al 2019: 73). The enclosures resemble monuments found at other high-status Pictish sites and are also similar to a type of enclosure found in association with some Anglo-Saxon cemeteries (Blair 1995; Mitchell & Noble 2017: 17; Campbell et al 2019: 90–91). The cemetery at Rhynie may have been extensive, encompassing all the monuments described above, and perhaps extended farther south, as barrows have been recorded up to 500m away, along the route of the modern road (NMRS no.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…The complex includes a massive square barrow—one of the largest such monuments yet identified at approximately 23m in diameter. Its shape, along with that of the associated monuments, is characteristic of those found within early medieval Pictish monumental cemeteries (Figure 9; Ashmore 1980; Winlow 2011: 341; Mitchell & Noble 2017: 12 & 27). Less than a kilometre to the east lies another barrow cemetery, again of early medieval form.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Hunter 2007: 38–42). The cemeteries at Rhynie and Newton of Collessie are of a form closely dated to the fifth to early seventh centuries cal AD (Maldonado 2013: 6; Mitchell & Noble 2017: fig 15). More specifically, one of the square barrows at Rhynie has been directly dated to the fifth or early sixth century AD (Noble et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Warrior ideologies in first-millennium AD Europe: new light on monumental warrior stelae from Scotland

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Warrior ideologies in first-millennium AD Europe: new light on monumental warrior stelae from Scotland

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“…As well as continued occupation at Cairn More, only 1.3 km south of the core location. Continued activity at least at one of the square enclosures at the Pictish cemetery during the seventh century AD reflects on-going occupation and exploitation of the landscape (Mitchell and Noble, 2017; Noble et al, 2019b). A pronounced decline in the positive scores in Cp3 and microcharcoal after ~AD 700, might reflect the later abandonment at Cairn More, and possibly abandonment of Tap o’ Noth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Craw Stane and Rhynie Man are two of eight Class I stones known from Rhynie in two notable concentrations. A second concentration is found around 0.7 km to the north where three other Pictish stones have been found in the location of a contemporary cemetery containing two square barrows and the skeleton of a female individual, also contemporary with the settlement complex excavated at the Craw Stane (Mitchell and Noble, 2017; Noble et al, 2019a). The Craw Stane complex comprised two ditched enclosures that were replaced by a complex wooden enclosure wall with a wall-walk made of oak posts and planks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Settlement, landscape and land-use change at a Pictish Elite Centre: Assessing the palaeoecological record for economic continuity and social change at Rhynie in NE Scotland

et al. 2021

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The first millennium AD was a transformative period when many of the medieval kingdoms of Europe began to take shape, but despite recent advances in palaeoecological and archaeological research there remains a shortage of interdisciplinary collaborative research targeting this period. For some regions we know relatively little about the societies who lived during this formative period. This current investigation focusses on an early medieval elite centre near to Rhynie in NE Scotland; an important power-centre during the fourth–seventh centuries AD as evidenced by a remarkable series of Class I Pictish symbol stones, fortified enclosures at Cairn more, Tap o’ Noth and the Craw-Stane, as well as high status metal-working and a range of continental imports from the Craw-Stane enclosure. However, by the end of the seventh century AD, elite focus appears to have shifted elsewhere with the Craw-Stane and Cairn More enclosures all being abandoned. By combining paleoenvironmental analysis with available historical and archaeological archives this paper provides new insights into societal change during the first Millennium AD, with focus on the economic, social and environmental impacts caused by the rise and subsequent abandonment of elite nodes of power. A calibrated age of AD 260–415, near the base of the core, coincides with the earliest dates for the Craw-Stane complex and pre-dates the construction of the nearby Cairn More enclosure. The results provide a rare snapshot of the Late Roman Iron Age to Medieval environment of Northeast Scotland. This centre appears to have been supported by a rich agricultural landscape, with evidence of pastoral and arable farming, and potential metal working. One of the most significant findings of this study has revealed that despite abandonment of these elite enclosed sites by the seventh century AD, people continued to utilise the surrounding landscape and available resources right through until modern times.

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A Powerful Place of Pictland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Power Centre of the 4th to 6th Centuriesad

Noble¹,

Gondek

Campbell

et al. 2019

Medieval Archaeology

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Our understanding of the nature of late and post-Roman central places of northern Britain has been limited by the lack of historical sources and the limited scale of archaeological investigation. New work at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland has begun to redress this through extensive excavation and landscape survey that has begun to reveal the character of a Pictish central place of the 4th to 6th centuries AD that has European connections through material culture, iconography and site character. In addition to reviewing the place-name and historical context the article outlines preliminary reflections on five seasons of excavation and survey in the Rhynie landscape that are brought together for the first time.The article also provides a detailed consideration of chronology including radiocarbon dating and Bayesian statistical analysis. The results reveal the multi-faceted nature of a major nonhillfort elite complex of Pictland that included a series of enclosures, timber buildings and a cemetery. The evidence from Rhynie provides a rich dataset for a new consideration of elite centres of early medieval northern Britain with wider implications for the nature of power centres in late and post-Roman Europe.

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The Monumental Cemeteries of Northern Pictland

Abstract: THE EMERGENCE OF FORMAL CEMETERIES is one of the most significant transformations in

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

Warrior ideologies in first-millennium AD Europe: new light on monumental warrior stelae from Scotland

Warrior ideologies in first-millennium AD Europe: new light on monumental warrior stelae from Scotland

Settlement, landscape and land-use change at a Pictish Elite Centre: Assessing the palaeoecological record for economic continuity and social change at Rhynie in NE Scotland

A Powerful Place of Pictland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Power Centre of the 4th to 6th Centuriesad

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