tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post9209464462402862980..comments2023-11-29T07:39:34.401+00:00Comments on Carla Nayland Historical Fiction: Pictish symbol stones – the comb and mirror symbolCarlahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-41814742176595224042014-09-02T12:55:16.973+01:002014-09-02T12:55:16.973+01:00It seems to me that mirror and comb always occurs ...It seems to me that mirror and comb always occurs on stones close to lakes.The mirror is round lake comb is rectangular lake.Mirror reflects light like lake comb Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-66259631190284627102007-08-02T17:35:00.000+01:002007-08-02T17:35:00.000+01:00Mark - I haven't. Is that the one that suggests a...Mark - I haven't. Is that the one that suggests a connection with Ancient Egypt? How does it fit with the comb and mirror symbol?Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-58464501351729816592007-08-02T17:21:00.000+01:002007-08-02T17:21:00.000+01:00Have you read Kingdom of the Ark by Lorraine Evans...Have you read Kingdom of the Ark by Lorraine Evans?<BR/>I have to admit, I have only glossed over this book myself but it came to mind when reading about your comb and mirror theory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-21104892325898544452007-08-01T09:29:00.000+01:002007-08-01T09:29:00.000+01:00Hello Mark and welcome. Indeed, it's the lack of ...Hello Mark and welcome. Indeed, it's the lack of hard facts and consequent room for the imagination to play that gives the Picts some of their fascination. Not unlike King Arthur in that respect, perhaps.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-4495480165427622722007-07-31T20:47:00.000+01:002007-07-31T20:47:00.000+01:00I think the "uncertainty and controversy" is what ...I think the "uncertainty and controversy" is what makes the Picts so interesting. If there was an account or accounts covering the Picts they wouldn't be half as intriguing. Walking round somewhere like Pictavia it's great to let your mind wonder over the different interpretations and even conjure up some yourself! :0)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-14041815539994896732007-02-22T16:37:00.000+00:002007-02-22T16:37:00.000+00:00Elena - I'm pleased you found it interesting! I s...Elena - I'm pleased you found it interesting! I share your interest in the Picts, though there's a good deal of uncertainty and controversy about many aspects of their culture and history.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-29923828073207956552007-02-22T13:00:00.000+00:002007-02-22T13:00:00.000+00:00Very interesting! I am have long found the Picts a...Very interesting! I am have long found the Picts a source of fascination. Thanks for the article!elena maria vidalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17129629173535139807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-66572748318873394212007-02-20T18:18:00.000+00:002007-02-20T18:18:00.000+00:00Just imagine the fun you could have with it. All ...Just imagine the fun you could have with it. All these knotty historical problems solved - what happened to the Princes in the Tower? Did King Arthur exist and if so when? Was Macbeth Earl Thorfinn of Orkney? Where is Boudica buried? What happened to Cartimandua? Did King Alexander really fall off that Fife cliff by accident? Was Mary Queen of Scots involved in Darnley's death? What exactly did Elizabeth I do, or not do, with Robert Dudley?<BR/>And what on earth would historians (or novelists) do for a living?Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-31674908598076370492007-02-20T17:52:00.000+00:002007-02-20T17:52:00.000+00:00I think a time machine would be more fun. :)I think a time machine would be more fun. :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-22582436540793071032007-02-20T12:40:00.000+00:002007-02-20T12:40:00.000+00:00Maybe not always paramount, given that people will...Maybe not always paramount, given that people will put extraordinary effort into things that don't seem terribly practical, like pyramids, but the practical is bound to play a role.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-551329533895731432007-02-20T11:39:00.000+00:002007-02-20T11:39:00.000+00:00Yes, I think the practical is likely to be paramou...Yes, I think the practical is likely to be paramount.<BR/>I can't remember now, Carla, think the map showed some association with neolithic flints/tools finds.Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-63276774335468957052007-02-19T22:49:00.000+00:002007-02-19T22:49:00.000+00:00Gabriele - combs appear in male burials such as at...Gabriele - combs appear in male burials such as at Sutton Hoo, so there seems little doubt that both sexes used them. What about mirrors? I was thinking of the mirror in particular as associated with women. I was also thinking that a symbol might have survived as an abstract after the belief that spawned it had gone, in the same way that everybody recognises the symbol on the Ladies nowadays without necessarily associating it with Venus' mirror.<BR/><BR/>Alex - indeed, I couldn't frame it as a testable hypothesis.<BR/><BR/>Bernita - i.e., the crouched burial requires the smallest amount of grave space, is that the idea? Very possible - I don't suppose one can tell how much is fashion and ritual and how much is purely practical, if indeed the two can be separated... That sounds like an interesting paper of yours. Did the maps show regional variations in burial practice, or what?<BR/><BR/>Susan - nobody really knows what the symbols mean, nor do I suppose we ever will unless someone finds the Pictish equivalent of the Rosetta Stone (or invents the time machine). Without that, everybody's guessing.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-40444438869005186612007-02-19T14:00:00.000+00:002007-02-19T14:00:00.000+00:00Fascinating, though I couldn't even begin to guess...Fascinating, though I couldn't even begin to guess at the meaning myself.Susan Higginbothamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517907583894026599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-24657137783328891832007-02-19T11:57:00.000+00:002007-02-19T11:57:00.000+00:00I rather like the female deity/descent theory.I so...I rather like the female deity/descent theory.<BR/>I sometimes wonder, though, about interpreting the crouched or embryonic position of early burials as a return to the womb, particularly those from the neolithic period - cyst burials? - which practise may have continued because of tradition into the Bronze period.<BR/>(I did a paper on it in undergrad with maps, now lost.)<BR/>It always struck me first as the most efficient position to place a body - especially considering the tools and labour involved.Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-40646574456848040212007-02-19T10:23:00.000+00:002007-02-19T10:23:00.000+00:00All sounds like a prehistorian's theory to me :-) ...All sounds like a prehistorian's theory to me :-) Prehistorians make it all up - thing is, they can't be proved either way. Some ideas are pleasing, others are off the wall. All could be wrong, all could be right ... Parts could be OK. Who is to know? Opinion counts. Certainly fine to use in a fictional context. Sorry, I daresay I'm being unhelpful as usual ...Alex Bordessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18360540101147770320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19922276.post-31333713428038700672007-02-18T20:45:00.000+00:002007-02-18T20:45:00.000+00:00The problem is that part of the Pictish stones (th...The problem is that part of the Pictish stones (the II and II types) date from Christian times, that makes a female deity a bit unlikely. But I don't see a necessary connection between combs and women, either; the Pictish men had long hair judging from the stones, and in German warrior burials, combs have been found. It's not that those old day hotties had their mane all in tangles. :)<BR/><BR/>But I don't have an explanation for the symbols, either.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.com