Another Pictish cross-of-arcs: an old find from Shetland re-interpreted
Keywords:
Cross slab, Carved stone
Cross slab, Carved stone
Location(s):
Jarlshof; Dunrossness; Shetland; Scotland; UK
Jarlshof; Dunrossness; Shetland; Scotland; UK
Period(s):
Early medieval
Early medieval
Abstract
A fragment of carved stone known as ‘Lerwick’ (NMS X.IB.19) is argued to have come, most probably, from the Pictish levels at Jarlshof, Dunrossness, Shetland, sometime before June 1861. The stone bears part of a Pictish crescent symbol on one side and part of a cross-of-arcs embellished with decorated lentoid forms on the other. The symbol-bearing cross-slab from which the fragment comes probably dates to the 7th century and may have stood in or near a churchyard at Jarlshof. It is compared with the cross-slabs from Papil and Bressay and with fragments of similar Shetland stones, and its place in the development of the cross-of-arcs is discussed.
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References
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Edwards, N 2007 ‘Early medieval sculpture in south-west Wales: the Irish Sea connection’, in Moss (ed.), 184–97.
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Hubert, J & Porcher, J 1969 Europe in the Dark Ages. London: Thames & Hudson.
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Scott, I G & Ritchie, A 2014 ‘Pictish symbol
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Smith, J A 1883 ‘Notes on some stone implements, &c, from Shetland, now presented to the Museum’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 17: 291–9.
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Wilson, D 1973 ‘The treasure’, in Small, A, Thomas, C & Wilson, D M St Ninian’s Isle and its Treasure, 45–148. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bond, J M & Bashford, D J 2010 ‘Carved and incised stone’, in Dockrill, S J, Bond, J M, Turner, V E, Brown, L D, Bashford, D J, Cussans, J E & Nicholson, R A Excavations at Old Scatness, Shetland, vol 1: The Pictish village and Viking-Age settlement, 304–20. Lerwick: Shetland Heritage Publications.
Bruce, J 1907 ‘Notice of the excavation of a broch at Jarlshof, Shetland’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 41: 11–33.
Cant, R G 1975 The medieval churches and chapels of Shetland. Lerwick: Shetland Archaeological & Historical Society.
Edwards, N 2007 ‘Early medieval sculpture in south-west Wales: the Irish Sea connection’, in Moss (ed.), 184–97.
Farley, J & Hunter, F (eds) 2015 Celts: art and identity. London: The British Museum/National Museums Scotland.
Fisher, I 2001 Early Medieval Sculpture in the
West Highlands and Islands. Edinburgh: RCAHMS/Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Geddes, J, Murray, H K & Murray, J C 2015 ‘Tullich, Aberdeenshire’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 145: 229–81.
Graham-Campbell, J & Henderson, I, with Ritchie, A & Scott, I G forthcoming ‘A Pictish “serpent” incised slab from Jarlshof, Shetland’, in Smith, B (ed.) The St Ninian’s Isle Treasure Sixty Years On. Lerwick: Shetland Heritage Publications.
Hamilton, J R C 1956 Excavations at Jarlshof, Shetland. Edinburgh: HMSO.
Henderson, G & Henderson, I 2004 The Art of the
Picts: sculpture and metalwork in early medieval Scotland. London: Thames & Hudson.
Hubert, J & Porcher, J 1969 Europe in the Dark Ages. London: Thames & Hudson.
Kilpatrick, K A 2011 ‘The iconography of the Papil Stone: sculptural and literary comparisons with a Pictish motif’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 141: 159–205.
Low, G 1879 A tour through the islands of Orkney and Schetland. Reprinted 1978, Inverness: Melven Press.
Lowe, E A 1948 Codices Latini Antiquiores: a palaeographical guide to Latin manuscripts prior to the ninth century, vol 3, Italy: Ancona-Novara. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
MacGregor, M 1976 Early Celtic Art in North Britain. Leicester: Leicester University
Press.
Moss, R (ed.) 2007 Making and Meaning in Insular Art. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
Newman, C & Walsh, N 2007 ‘Iconographical analysis of the Marigold Stone, Carndonagh, Inishowen, Co Donegal’, in Moss (ed.), 167–83.
O’Meadhra, U 1993 ‘Viking-Age sketches and motif-pieces from the northern Earldoms’, in Batey, C E, Jesch, J & Morris, C D The Viking Age in Caithness, Orkney and the North Atlantic, 423–40. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
RCAHMS 1992 Argyll: an inventory of the monuments, vol 7, Mid Argyll & Cowal. Edinburgh: HMSO.
Reynolds, Y 2014 ‘A passion to preserve: a
history of museum provision in Shetland’, unpublished MLitt dissertation, University of St Andrews.
Ritchie, A 2008 ‘A fragment of a Pictish symbol-bearing slab with carving in relief from Mail, Cunningsburgh, Shetland,’ Proc Soc Antiq Scot 138: 185–92.
Ritchie, A 2011 A Shetland Antiquarian: James Thomas Irvine of Yell. Lerwick: Shetland Amenity Trust.
Scott, I G & Ritchie, A 2009 Pictish and Viking-Age Carvings from Shetland. Edinburgh: RCAHMS.
Scott, I G & Ritchie, A 2014 ‘Pictish symbol
stones and early cross-slabs from Orkney’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 144: 169–204.
Sharpe, R 1995 Adomnán of Iona: Life of St Columba. London: Penguin.
Smith, J A 1883 ‘Notes on some stone implements, &c, from Shetland, now presented to the Museum’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 17: 291–9.
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1866–8 ‘Donations to the Museum’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 7: 422–6.
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1882–3 ‘Anniversary Meeting, 30th November 1882’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 17: 1–21.
Stevenson, R B K 1981 ‘The museum, its beginnings and its development, Part II: the National Museum to 1954’, in Bell, A S (ed.) The Scottish Antiquarian Tradition: essays to mark the bicentenary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and its museum, 1780–1980, 142–211. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd.
Trench-Jellicoe, R 1998 ‘The Skeith Stone, Upper Kilrenny, Fife, in its context’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 128: 495–513.
Trench-Jellicoe, R 2005 ‘A richly decorated cross-slab from Kilduncan House, Fife: description and analysis’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 135: 505–59.
Wilson, D 1973 ‘The treasure’, in Small, A, Thomas, C & Wilson, D M St Ninian’s Isle and its Treasure, 45–148. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Published
21-11-2018
How to Cite
Ritchie, A. (2018). Another Pictish cross-of-arcs: an old find from Shetland re-interpreted. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 147, 119–126. https://doi.org/10.9750/PSAS.147.1238
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