Article about the Picts

[Monkey@Arms]

For you history buffs.

The truth about the Picts
They have been dismissed as savages who resisted the march of civilisation. But the remains of a monastery found in the north of Scotland suggest the Picts have been wronged

By Ian Johnston
Wednesday, 6 August 2008


The Picts have long been regarded as enigmatic savages who fought off Rome's legions before mysteriously disappearing from history, wild tribesmen who refused to sacrifice their freedom in exchange for the benefits of civilisation. But far from the primitive warriors of popular imagination, they actually built a highly sophisticated culture in northern Scotland in the latter half of the first millennium AD, which surpassed their Anglo-Saxon rivals in many respects.


A study of one the most important archaeological discoveries in Scotland for 30 years, a Pictish monastery at Portmahomack on the Tarbat peninsula in Easter Ross, has found that they were capable of great art, learning and the use of complex architectural principles

Read the full article here:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...?service=Print

Best regards,

Jake

[pdcorlis]

You know what they say - "You can Pict your friends and you can Pict your nose..."

sorry...

Its really a very good article - thanks for posting!

[ardchoille]

"History is often written by those who would hang heroes."

[actualrealproperscot]

"History is often written by those who would hang heroes."

And I bet they wrote history better than mel gibson.

[Arlen]

And I bet they wrote history better than mel gibson.

Aye, well... wouldn't be hard.


Thanks for the article. I've a bit of a thing for Pictish art and all the history (Written recently) of the Picts I've read definitely showed them in a better light.
Nice to see more proof of it.

[macneighill]

Awesome article . . thanks Jake for the post .

[Nick the DSM]

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed it.

[slohairt]

It isn't surprising that the Picts were probably more sophisticated than we give them credit for. Considering them uncivilised savages was the same view held by academia about the Celts in the past. Different cultures do (and did) different things better than others. Comparing 'levels of sophistication' is really pointless.

Much of our history is indeed tainted by the bias of the conqueror. In the case of the Isles, it is the English. Though fast disappearing, a pervasive sense of cultural superiority was rife throughout the writings of the 19th Century. They even took to wearing a few different hats whilst doing it: Anglo-Saxon superiority, Anglo-Norman superiority, and even Roman superiority. (A bit of stretch!) No culture in the Isles was more 'advanced' than the other, each merely had aspects which were better. It all balanced out in the end.

[beloitpiper]

As an anthropologist (ok, ok, I'm technically an archaeologist), I'm not surprised at all. I believe the word "savage" cannot be used when describing an entire race or ethnicity. Who are we to say what is civilized or not? Just because one group does things differently does not mean they have less abilities.

It seems that farming and sedentary lifestyles have been the hallmarks of European civilization. Once people move away from nomadic hunting and foraging cultures, they are regarded as civilized. But at the same time Middle Eastern cultures, who have had agriculture longer than everyone, were regarded as uncivilized by Europeans for centuries, if not millennia. And some native Americans had agriculture but did not embrace it because it was much easier and logical to be nomadic hunters.

So I say "yay Picts". They are finally being recognized as a formidable culture after being Romanticized (is that the right word) as savages of a forgotten time. Their impprint is still seen throughout Scotland, and to dismiss them as nothing more than roving bands of barbarians has been a mistake by historians for far too long.

[gilmore]

It's interesting that people write of Picts as "they" and Scots not. All of us of Scots ancestry probably descend from Picts as much as, if not more than, the Scots who migrated from what is now Ireland. The Picts were likley more numerous before being assimilated.