Although Perthshire was part of Pictland, the corpus of Early Medieval sculpture in north-west or “Highland” Perthshire comprises very few Pictish stones.  The prominence of simple crosses – linear, sunken and outline – which have their origins in the Scots’ kingdom of Dál Riata, suggests not only the spread of Christianity from the west but perhaps even gradual Scottish settlement.

In this talk, John Borland will give an overview of the early medieval sculpture of Highland Perthshire, follow its distribution from west to east along the glens and straths, highlighting what is rare and unusual.  He will examine the distribution of the sculpture to see what that tells us about its cultural origins and thus assess just how “Pictish” this part of Perthshire was.

John Borland worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland (RCAHMS) and then Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for 36 years, retiring as Measured Survey Manager in May 2020.  In that time, John had the opportunity to survey almost every type of archaeological and architectural monument, from Neolithic chambered cairns to WWII coastal batteries and everything in between, including castles, churches, croft houses and country houses.  However, the main focus of his work latterly was recording Scotland’s Pictish and other Early Medieval sculpture.  John has been a member of the Pictish Arts Society for more than 20 years and is the current PAS President.

To register for the talk and to receive the Zoom joining details, you must send an email to Ian at bhsaberfeldy@gmail.com.