6.10.3 Periods of Transition

The early medieval period can be viewed as transitional, from later prehistory to the medieval and early modern worlds. The transition from the Iron Age was marked by the introduction of new building and monument types, such as elongated byre-houses, new fort types with tiers of enclosing works on small, rocky outcrops and new burial monuments in the form of square barrows and barrow cemeteries. In the sphere of ritual and belief, conversion to Christianity introduced a range of new ecclesiastical buildings. Accompanying or preceding some of these were important new Insular art forms, significantly including Pictish symbol stones and cross-slabs, and a range of new high-status jewellery notably including silver brooches. A small number of sites – notably Glenlyon and Glen Quaich – suggest there were places of ritual that fused Christian conversion with pagan tradition and there is work to do to test the extent of this and how it is also reflected in more mobile art forms and in monumental sculpture.

The transition from the early medieval into the medieval period was focused partly on the increasingly important role of Christianity. It was a highly successful mode of cult practice that accessed the divine to sanction both secular and sacred elites. The period also saw the formalisation of secular power on local, regional and ultimately national scales; international connections became increasingly significant for the economic and cultural life of the region.

Priority 1:

The Long Iron Age transition to the early medieval period is poorly understood and little is known about the immediate post-Roman and earlier part of the period, around AD 350–600, either through sites or artefacts.

Priority 2:

In the latter part of the period the foundations were laid for the emergence of the kingdom of Scotland. There is scope for interdisciplinary research involving archaeology, folk traditions, written records and place-names and environmental evidence to inform us about the processes which shaped this transition.

Research Questions