Birse Pictish Symbol Stone

Description

Birse (St Michael), Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Pictish cross-slab fragment Measurements: H 0.29m, W 0.13m Now built into the interior face of the garden wall at Birse Manse, near the church, first recorded in 1995. This small fragment appears to be part of a Pictish cross-slab. It is incised with a curlicue, probably the lower right portion of a cross-shaft, and a double-sided comb. A curving line above the comb is likely to be the tip of the handle of a mirror symbol. All edges are broken but the surviving carving is clear. The image has been reoriented to show the angle the cross slab would have been erected, in the wall the stone is on its side. Date range: eighth or ninth century.