Naked fighting, blue bodies and other facts about the Picts - an ancient Scottish tribe that was feared even in the Roman Empire

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

So who exactly were the Picts. These were mysterious people who lived in northern England and southern Scotland and figured in the annals of Roman history during the first few centuries of our era. Although very little is known about the Picts, historians know that they caused a lot of trouble for the Romans who tried to conquer the British Isles. They also turned out to be extremely talented artists. Most interestingly, the ancient Picts may not even have considered themselves a single group of people. But who were they.

1. Blue paint and tattoos

While this has been the subject of much historical controversy, during the Roman invasion of the British Isles, it was said that the Picts dyed their bodies blue to appear "wilder in battle." Translated from Latin, "Picts" just translates as "painted", because they supposedly also made many tattoos, in addition to painting the whole body in blue.

2. They were brutal pirates

Apparently, the Picts made little difference between trade and piracy during their coastal trade with the Romans along the southern coast of the British Isles. The citizens of Londinium (the Roman name for London) talked about how, after a successful raid on a small Roman-British settlement, whole groups of Pictish pirates sailed past their city on ships overloaded with trophies and prisoners. Although the Roman British attempted to organize counterattacks against the Pictish pirates, the Pictish guerrilla style made it incredibly difficult.

3. They disappeared in the Middle Ages

By the beginning of the Middle Ages in Scotland there were no more people called "Picts". During the reign of the Scottish-Irish king Kenneth Mac Alpin (whose mother, by the way, may have been a Pict), Scotland became a relatively united kingdom. It seems that the new Gaelic kingdom simply assimilated the Picts. But was it peaceful … Legend has it that Kenneth and his Scottish-Irish troops actually killed the Pictish nobles at a banquet and then seized power.

4. Maternal power

Power in the kingdom of the Picts was passed not from father to son, but from an occasional relative to a random relative. Some scholars have suggested that since royal blood was not passed on through the paternal line from the Picts, then the power was matrilineal, which means that women of the clan (sisters, nieces, etc.) were the only ones who could claim the throne.

Matrilinearity allowed the Picts to choose from a larger number of candidates, as opposed to one or two sons of the same monarch. While scholars are not entirely sure exactly how the Picts chose their kings, it is worth noting that if power followed the lineage of the mother, this did not necessarily mean that women received more power in society.

5. It is not known what the Picts called themselves

The Picts were not a single group of people, but a confederation of tribes, which the Romans called by one name. The term "Picts" - or "painted" - was a derogatory nickname that the Romans gave to their enemies. The name implied that the Picts were barbarians painting themselves. What the Picts called themselves (or even in general, whether they considered themselves one group and whether they gave themselves a name) is unknown.

6. They were stone carvers

The Picts were master engravers and clearly enjoyed decorating many of Scotland's stones with intricate designs. There are approximately 350 surviving Pictish stones, and they all contain images that range from dragons to horses, whirlwinds to crosses. And all of these drawings have a really beautiful art style. Although most contain only symbolic images, some of them contain the ancient Irish alphabet "Ogamic script".

7. Battles naked

The Romans claimed that the Picts and other peoples whom they considered "barbarians" fought naked. This is not as crazy as it might seem; in fact, there is a long history of people fighting naked. And the Picts sometimes depicted themselves naked on some of their stones.

8. They probably didn't wear plaid kilts

When it comes to the Scots, modern people immediately imagine plaid kilts, but there is no evidence that their ancestors, the Picts, wore these "skirts". There is ample evidence that ancient people in Western Europe wore cloth garments, but none of them support the idea that each clan had its own design, or that the cage had the same meaning then as it does now. In fact, some scholars argue that individual clan patterns are a relatively recent invention, driven by poetic interest in Highland culture in the 18th century.

9. Saint Patrick clearly didn't like them

Saint Patrick, a leading religious figure in Christian Ireland, was born in Britain. There he contacted the Picts and other people who were not yet Christians, and clearly was not a fan of them. In his letter to the warriors of Keretic the Landowner, Patrick denounced his compatriots, calling them as bad as the Irish and "apostate Picts" for killing Christian converts. It is not known what exactly he meant by "apostate" (whether the Picts accepted Christianity and then rejected Christianity or completely rejected it).

10. The Picts were a real problem for the Roman British

Roman sources report that the Picts were a very problematic group when it came to raiding northern Britain. For example, in 367 A. D. The Picts have teamed up with a group of other tribal confederations from Ireland, Germany and elsewhere to create what they call a "barbarian conspiracy." Using secret agents to provide intelligence, the Picts, along with others, overpowered the Romans, but just a few years later, the emperor sent troops and regained control of the lands of the rebel tribes.

11. They were experienced sailors

Living on the coast of northern England and southern Scotland, the Picts often went out to sea and became adept at it over time. It was their nautical prowess that allowed the Picts to forge alliances with the Western European peoples against the Romans. This also meant that the Picts were among the first people to be attacked by the people who are called Vikings today.

12.10% of Scots descended from the Picts

According to a 2013 genetic study, about 10% of Scots descended from the ancient Picts. The Y-chromosome marker R1b-S530, characteristic of the Picts, was found 10 times more often in males of Scottish patrilineal origin than in other individuals. In contrast, only 0.8% of the British and 3% of the Irish tested had this gene.

13. Scientists were able to restore the appearance of the Picts

Scientists recently reconstructed the face of a brutally murdered Pictish male. Lost around 600 AD the guy was buried deep in a Scottish cave. The reconstruction showed that this Pict looked pretty decent and was quite young, and he died after five very hard blows to the head.

14. Their language remains a mystery

Pictish stones with magnificent carvings sometimes contain inscriptions in the language of these people. Unfortunately, historians have not been able to decipher the language of the Pictish in any way, since there are only a few dozen examples of the use of these symbols. But scholars know that the Picts had their own language and examples of it have survived in place names throughout. Places with names starting with "Aber-", "Cat-", "Dol-" and "Pit-" are of Pictish origin.

And in continuation of the topic more 10 little-known facts about the ancient Picts - the mysterious "painted" enemies of the Vikings