The Northern Picts: the citadel project, rescue and research-led investigations at a Viking age power centre
Thu 21 May 2026 , 17:00 - 19:30
- Venue
- Bute Building Exhibition Space, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3NB
- Price
- Free
- Facilities
-
Accessible parking,
Live subtitling,
Wheelchair accessible venue
Contact the events team for further information about accessibility at this event.
- Event series
- The British Academy Lectures
Delivered by the most outstanding academics in the UK and beyond, the British Academy’s flagship Lecture programme showcases the very best scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. This event is part of the Sir John Rhys Memorial Lectures (Celtic Studies).
About the event
This lecture will look at the major developments in Pictish archaeology that have been made under the umbrella project, the Northern Picts, at the University of Aberdeen. The Picts - ‘the painted people’ - were first mentioned in late Roman sources in AD 297 as a collective name for troublesome, barbaric peoples, living north of the Roman frontier. The Picts went on to become the dominant kingdom in northern Britain, forming the precursor to the medieval kingdom of Alba and latterly of Scotland. The Picts have long remained an enigma due to the dearth of historical sources they left behind, and the archaeological record has been very difficult to populate too. The lecture will focus on some recent discoveries including the largest Viking Age power centre known in northern Britain - the Pictish promontory fort at Burghead, Moray.
Speaker
Gordon Noble is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen. His Northern Picts/Comparative Kingship research project won the Current Archaeology Research Project of the Year 2021.
Chair
Image Credit: Alice Watterson, University of Aberdeen
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