Some years ago a revolution took place in Early Medieval history in Scotland. The Pictish heartland of Fortriu, previously thought to be centred on Perthshire and the Tay found itself relocated through the forensic work of Alex Woolf to the shores of the Moray Firth. The implications for our understanding of this period and for the formation of Scotland are unprecedented and still being worked through.

This is the first account of this northern heartland of Pictavia for a more general audience to take in the full implications of this and of the substantial recent archaeological work that has been undertaken in recent years. Part of the The Northern Picts project at Aberdeen University, this book represents an exciting cross disciplinary approach to the study of this still too little understood yet formative period in Scotland’s history.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of plates and figures
• Abbreviations
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction: The king in the north – The Pictish realms of Fortriu and Ce
• 2 A historical introduction to the northern Picts
• 3 Fortified settlement in northern Pictland
• 4 Rhynie: A powerful place of Pictland
• 5 The monumental cemeteries of northern Pictland
• 6 (Re)discovering the Gaulcross hoard
• 7 The development of the Pictish symbol system
• 8 The early Church in northern Pictland
• 9 Coda
• Sites to visit
• References
• Index
• Plates