Knocknagael Boar Stone
An early symbol stone
The Knocknagael Boar Stone is hard to date, but it was probably made sometime between AD 400 and 600. It shows:
a wild boar, with scrolls emphasising shoulders and haunches, and spiky bristles on its back
a series of Pictish symbols, including a mirror case, a disc and a rectangle
The carving on the stone was done with great skill. The boar’s body is shown with curved lines that make its muscles look realistic. Only four Pictish stones are known to show boars, and this is one of them.
The stone used to stand at Knocknagael Farm, just south of Inverness, before it was moved to the Highland Council offices to protect it. Its original location is unknown.
Legacy of the Picts
The Picts were descendants of Iron Age tribes who lived north of the Forth and Clyde in the first millennium AD. We don’t know very much about them, but they left around 300 carved stones across the country. The earliest stones, including the Knocknagael Boar Stone, were made around AD 600 and show a range of mysterious symbols.
Later Pictish stones, from after about AD 700, were clearly Christian. These cross‑slabs feature a large Christian cross that stands out above the older traditional symbols.
Statement of Significance
You can find out more about the Knocknagael Boar Stone in our Statement of Significance, part of a series of special documents outlining the history and development of Historic Scotland sites.
Discover more on trove.scot
See archive photographs of Knocknagael Boar Stone, plus archaeology notes and more.
