The mysterious and enigmatic Picts, who flourished in northern Scotland from c. 300 AD, have long been a subject of popular appeal.

Their intricately carved symbol stones, whose meaning has remained an enigma for well over a thousand years, offer a tantalising glimpse into the culture of a highly sophisticated society which defied the might of the Roman empire only to disappear at the end of the first millennium AD.

Yet historical sources are limited and there are few books on the Picts, and none that reflect the significant advances in our knowledge that have been made in the last ten years. This book redresses that balance. As well as including an historical overview of the Picts from the late Roman sources to the tenth century, it also covers kingship and elite culture, everyday life, burial traditions, pagan and Christian belief, art and crafting, and the end of Pictland during the Viking Age.