Pictish

The Picts were a group of tribes and early medieval kingdoms in eastern and northern Scotland who flourished from roughly the 4th to the 9th centuries. Their heartlands lay along the eastern seaboard, with notable centers in Moray and the surrounding region, and they interacted with neighboring peoples such as the Gaels and the Britons.

Language and identity: Pictish identity is defined primarily by archaeology and medieval sources. The Pictish language is poorly attested; most scholars consider it to be a Brythonic (P-Celtic) tongue or a pre-Goidelic substrate, with Gaelic and Old English later becoming dominant in the region.

Art and archaeology: The Picts left a distinctive legacy of carved stone monuments, many incised with symbols such as the mirror and comb, crescent with v-rod, double discs, and animal motifs. Stones are commonly classified as Class I (symbols only) or Class II (symbols plus crosses), highlighting religious and cultural transitions.

Religion and society: Christianization began in the 6th century through missions from Ireland and Scotland. Over time Christian art and Latin literacy influenced cultural life, while political organization remained a loose confederation of tribes and royal centers rather than a centralized state.

History and legacy: In the 7th–9th centuries, Pictish kingdoms gradually coalesced and were eventually absorbed into the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata, leading to the unification of the region under a single crown in the 9th century and the formation of the Kingdom of Alba. The Picts disappeared as a distinct political or linguistic unit, though their stones, symbols, and place-names continued to influence Scotland.