A Pictish pin from Golspie, Sutherland

Abstract

NH 824998. A decorated gilt-bronze pin was found in 1974 at Golspie; one side of the flat head is decorated in cast 'chip-carved' technique with a male face, characterized by 'frown-lines' on the brow and prominent ears. The pin is unique in Scotland, but its decoration and technique link it to Pictish stone-carving and metalwork of the 8th and 9th centuries AD, and its findspot lies in an area of known Pictish activity. AR