Pictish stones are carved monuments found mainly in eastern and northern Scotland. Their symbols, crosses, people, animals, and narrative scenes are major evidence for Pictish society during the early medieval period.
Symbols and modern classes
Common designs include the crescent and V-rod, double disc and Z-rod, mirror and comb, animals, and abstract shapes. The system usually called Class I, Class II, and Class III was created by modern scholars to organize different types of carving. It was not a classification used by the Picts.
Earlier stones often carry incised symbols without a cross. Later cross-slabs combine Christian crosses with Pictish symbols and complex scenes. This shift shows Christian adoption and local continuity rather than the sudden disappearance of Pictish identity.
Meaning and writing
No surviving key explains the symbols. They may have marked names, kin groups, status, commemorative identities, or several kinds of information. Claims that every sign forms a deciphered alphabet are not accepted.
Some stones also carry ogham inscriptions, which are writing and can sometimes be read even when interpretation is difficult. Ogham and Pictish symbols should not be treated as the same system.