The Hilton of Cadboll Stone is a Class II Pictish stone discovered at Hilton of Cadboll, on the Tarbat Peninsula in Easter Ross, Scotland. It is one of the most magnificent of all Pictish cross-slabs. On the seaward-facing side is a Christian cross, and on the landward facing side are secular depictions. The latter are carved below the Pictish symbols of crescent and V-rod and double disc and Z-rod: a hunting scene including a woman wearing a large penannular brooch riding side-saddle.[1] Like other similar stones, it can be dated between the 6th to 9th centuries.
The stone was formerly on in the vicinity of a chapel just north of the village. It was removed to Invergordon Castle in the 19th century, before being donated to the British Museum. The latter move was not popular with the Scottish public, and so it was moved once more, to the Museum of Scotland,[2] where it remains today. A replica designed and carved by Barry Grove was recently erected on the site.
In 2001 the missing lower portion of the cross-slab, along with several thousand carved fragments, was recovered by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) during an excavation funded by Historic Scotland. Following some controversy around where this section of the monument should be curated it was finally put on display Hilton of Cadboll village hall rather than joining the upper portion at the Museum of Scotland. In parallel with the excavation, Historic Scotland also funded research carried out by Sian Jones of the University of Manchester into the significance of Early Medieval Sculpture to local communities which concentrated on the historical fragmentation and movement of the Hilton of Cadboll monument as well its modern role in the production of meaning, value and place [3] The excavation and subsequent analysis of the 'biography' of the monument was the foundation of a major monograph published by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 2008.[4] The digital elements of the excavation archive were deposited with the Archaeology Data Service.
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