![]() ![]() Because the Picts did not write down their own history, and accounts from other peoples have proven to be unreliable, not much is known of Pictish culture. The Wemyss Caves’ carvings remain the oldest and largest concentration of Pictish symbols anywhere in the world. Several carvings, including one of a Pictish beast and another of a swan, were destroyed when a car was set on fire inside one of the caves in 1986, and only three of the five caves originally found to contain carvings remain today. When the Pictish carvings were discovered in the 1860s, there were at least 25 more, but the collection has been and continues to be threatened by erosion, deterioration and human harm. The Wemyss Caves contain several carvings that are believed to date to the Bronze Age, as well as more than 50 Iron Age symbols carved by the mysterious Pict people of Scotland between 300AD and the early 400s. As archaeologists and historians work to unravel the meanings of these mysterious drawings, environmental and human threats are forcing them into a high-stakes race against time. Inside the shadowy, red-tinged Wemyss Caves hide ancient etchings of animals, hunting scenes and what might be the first rendering of a Scottish ship. Hidden beneath the medieval ruins of Macduff’s Castle in Fife, Scotland, lies an even more ancient wonder: a series of 4,000- to 1,500-year-old carvings that archaeologists have yet to fully comprehend.
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