A Window To The Past In A Millennia Old Ornamental Pict Ring Found At Scottish Dig

Via LiveScience: The 1,000-year-old ring contains either a piece of garnet or red glass at its center. (Image credit: National Museum Scotland)

The painted people, Picti, were first mentioned in Latin during the 3rd Century AD. Their origin seems to stem from the Iron Age Caledonii tribes and their counterparts, known for making it impossible for Rome to conquer them. The Middle Ages saw Picts take the lead in the North of the British Isles, with wonderfully patterned architecture and fashion pieces leaving an immortal mark on the landscape. Pictland is a specific area of the Scottish countryside that holds the largest concentration of the styled creativity. It is, in fact, in the methods of creativity and the techniques employed that we could make our best educated guesses as to the origin of many various pieces of history. I wonder if this would be still true for today’s works of art and design? 
 
Although the Pictish people had a vibrant and diverse spoken language, rooted in the ancient Gael languages, they did not leave any written word for us to explore. This perhaps suggests they did not have writing at all, or perhaps despite their ability to make complex designs in stone, they wrote on something much more transient. It could have been a superstitious belief that prevented words from being made permanent. There is also the fact that Pict is a generic term invented by Latin speaking people to describe a culture they knew nothing about. The pictures they refer to were probably dyes applied to the skin or tattoos like the Māori people of New Zealand. Trends and cultural synchronicities can run through several cultures, like football today could mean we are the ballkicking people. Sounds good, but it doesn’t say much about the variety of players in the world.  
 
Even though we have various writings from the time about the so-called Picts, they are generally written in second-hand accounts or in passing tense. No real or long-lived emissary work was done to understand the cultures, perhaps because of the warring tribes on both sides. What we have to do is go to Pictland itself and explore the things the ancient culture left behind. In the most long-lived artifacts, the ones constructed with the most attention and care, the test of time reveals at least some of what they valued the most. The good news is that the work is still ongoing, with new finds being made all the time. Every fresh discovery writes another page in the annuls we never got. 
 
As reported in Live Science Magazine, a volunteer recently unearthed a splendid piece of Pict jewellery. The metal ring is at least 1000 years old and contains a red solitaire. It’s thought to either be garnet or red glass, testing the fragile piece might be harmful. Maybe a safe way of finding out can be applied. Retired Engineer and Alum of Aberdeen University John Ralph decided to join the dig when the opportunity arose, and he was the lucky archaeologist who found the kite-shaped antique piece. The ruined fort from Pict times was almost obliterated during the 1800s when developments built over the site. Now with a clear conscience, the modern-day Scots are revisiting their heritage and safeguarding the fantastic treasures that still hide beneath the fertile and haunted ground.  
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