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Gordon Noble, Tessa Poller, John Raven, Lucy Verrill.
Scottish Odysseys: the archaeology of islands.
Tempus. 2008

From before the crossing over of St Columba to Iona, through to long after the abandonment of St Kilda, islands have enthralled the minds of scholars. They are an ancient and integral part of the imagined Scottish landscape. Islands in Scotland have been attracting the interest of archaeologists since the birth of the discipline and their seemingly irresistible draw has not waned.

The Scottish Archaeological Forum recently held an innovative conference to explore where this allure has brought us at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This authoritative volume gathers together the results of that conference and is invaluable for anybody interested in the archaeology of Scottish islands. The contributors explore how islands have inspired scholars, present new discoveries and reinterpret material from prehistory to the recent past on islands from the Irish Sea to the North Atlantic as well as those that have been moulded in the imagination.

Individual chapters investigate ‘islandness’ in art, literature and archaeology, Irish identity, Bronze Age metalworking, standing stones in Mull, the interaction between island communities and archaeology, Foula, Iron Age land administration, lairds’ houses, the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition, Rathlin Island, Orcadian souterrains and Neolithic North Uist.

Gordon Noble, Nicholas (2) Evans.
The King in the North: the Pictish realms of Fortriu and Ce.
Birlinn. 2019

The Picts of northern Scotland were a powerful political and cultural force in the first millennium AD. From early references in late Roman sources to the Picts attacking the Empire to their disappearance from records in the tenth century, they helped shape the history of early Britain. In spite of the region’s rich archaeological evidence, the mainland north of the Grampian Mountains has often been regarded as a backwater compared to southern Pictland. However, recent research has transformed our understanding of its importance, since the dominant Pictish territory and kingdom, Fortriu, has now been located around the Moray Firth.

This rich and accessible study marshals a whole swathe of new data on the Picts of northern Scotland, introducing the historical sources and documenting the huge progress that has been made through recent archaeological discoveries. The evidence uncovered has been of unprecedented quantity and detail, revealing hitherto unknown elite settlements, a major silver hoard and challenging received views of the early Church. The volume also provides new chronological and interpretive frameworks for classic ‘problems’ of the Picts such as the dating and context of the iconic, but poorly understood, Pictish Symbol system. Written for scholars and the general reader alike, this book encapsulates a radically transformed view of the Picts and their contribution to the early medieval world of north-west Europe.

Gordon Noble, Nicholas (2) Evans.
Picts: scourge of Rome, rulers of the North.
Birlinn. 2022

The Picts have fascinated for centuries. They emerged c, AD 300 to defy the might of the Roman Empire only to disappear at the end of the first millennium AD, yet they left major legacies. They laid the foundations for the medieval Scottish kingdom, and their captivating carved stones are some of the most eye-catching yet enigmatic monuments in Europe. Until recently the Picts have been difficult to trace due to limited archaeological investigation and documentary sources, but innovative research has produced critical new insights into the culture of a highly sophisticated society which forged a powerful realm dominating much of northern Britain.

This is the first dedicated book on the Picts that covers in detail both their archaeology and their history. It examines their kingdoms, culture, beliefs and everyday lives from their origins to their end, not only incorporating current thinking on the subject, but also offering innovative perspectives that transform our understanding of the early history of Scotland.