I ducked out and took these this morning. They're not much as photos but they at least let you see the brilliant crafstmanship of the Pictish sculptors. The area I'm in has many of these old pictish cross slabs. Their purpose has been interpreted as anything from graves to land boundaries and there is all sorts of folklore surrounding them. These two date from around the 9th century. There is some indication that these stones were once painted in bright colours
Alan
Shandwick Stone
This still stands in its original location on a hill near the sea. The Gaelic name is Clach a'Charridh (Stone of Sorrow) and there are at least two explanations for this. The stone was blown down in 1846 and broken in two. You can see the crack where it was repaired. More recently, in order to preserve and protect it, a glass housing has been erected over it. The glass housing has been specially designed to maximise problems for photographers
Nigg Stone
This pictish cross slab stone had always stood in the churchyard at Nigg. It is 7' high by 3.5' wide, sculptured in relief on front, back and right side. It differs from others in the area as the top is triangular. Again, special consideration for photographers has been shown by placing it in a very cramped room with incandescent lighting
Threaded Mode