Aberlemno Sculptured Stones

A serpent, a double-disc-and-Z-rod, and a mirror-and-comb are cut deep into weathered sandstone at Aberlemno — Pictish symbols whose meaning is not recorded in any source used here. On a second stone a few hundred yards south, three carved registers of riders and foot-soldiers are read as a battle scene, a raven picking at a fallen warrior in the lowest band. A third slab carries a ringed cross wrapped in interlace on one face, and older symbols on the other.

These are the Aberlemno Sculptured Stones, a group of Pictish carved stones standing in and around the village of Aberlemno, Angus.

What we know

Two carving traditions sit side by side here. The Class I stones carry the older, incised Pictish symbol system — serpent, double-disc-and-Z-rod, mirror-and-comb — a set of signs whose meaning is not recorded in any source used for this page. The Class II cross-slabs come later: a ringed cross wrapped in interlace and knotwork on one face, Pictish symbols retained on the other, marking the point where Pictish art absorbed Christian forms rather than replacing what came before. Carving on the group runs broadly from the sixth to the ninth century CE, with the cross-slabs re-dated more recently to somewhere between the mid-eighth and mid-ninth century.

One stone carries an older layer still. The roadside stone bearing the serpent and mirror-and-comb symbols shows prehistoric cup marks on its reverse face — evidence that the Picts reused a standing stone already centuries old when they carved it.

The three-register battle scene on the reverse of the kirkyard cross-slab is among the most reproduced images in Pictish studies. Historian Graeme Cruickshank argued in 1985 that it depicts the Battle of Dun Nechtain, fought in AD 685 some five kilometres south near Dunnichen, where Pictish forces defeated a Northumbrian army. The argument gained wide acceptance, though the stone’s later re-dating to the mid-ninth century complicates a direct memorial link to that specific battle.

Two further stones from the group stand outside the village. A fourth stone — the Flemington Farm Stone — was found in the early 1960s and is now displayed in The McManus, Dundee. A fifth, the Woodwrae Stone, was reused as a floor slab in a nearby ruined castle before being removed in 1819 to Walter Scott’s collection at Abbotsford; it was donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1924 and now stands in the National Museum of Scotland. A further Class I stone was found as recently as 2022, by a University of Aberdeen team led by archaeologist Gordon Noble.

What is said

A sixteenth-century chronicler, Hector Boece, once claimed the battle scene marked a Pictish slaughter of Danish raiders near Aberlemno — the so-called Battle of Barry — though the claim is now regarded as historically unfounded. Other readings of the battle scene are thought less certain still: a Pict–Viking encounter, a memorial to the eighth-century king Óengus I, or an allegory of spiritual struggle.

What to see now

Three stones stand in or near their original positions in the village today; the roadside cross slab is currently removed for conservation work, so it will not be visible at every visit. On the northern roadside stone, the serpent, double-disc-and-Z-rod, and mirror-and-comb symbols are still boldly incised, with the older cup marks visible on the reverse for those who look closely. In the kirkyard, some three hundred yards south, the tall cross-slab carries the battle scene on its rear face and a ringed, interlaced cross on the front. A third roadside stone, slimmer and taller, shows adoring angels flanking its cross and a hunting scene below Pictish symbols on the reverse. A fifth stone, closer to the centre of the village, carries only faint traces of carving, thought either unfinished or a later imitation.

The carvings are weathering, and for that reason the outdoor stones are boxed in timber covers from the last working day of September until the first working day of April each year. They can only be seen, unboxed, roughly between April and late September.

How to visit

The stones stand in and around the village of Aberlemno, Angus, in eastern Scotland; individual stone positions are not given here. Entry is free. Because of the seasonal boxing described above, an April-to-September visit gives the best chance of seeing every outdoor stone uncovered. Historic Environment Scotland’s official pages carry current opening notes and getting-here guidance for anyone planning ahead.