Pictish Sea Eagle

It’s from the 6th or 7th Century. It’s carved in sandstone and was excavated by amateurs in 1936 from the ruins of a broch, the Knowe of Burrian in Harray in Orkney. It is in the Orkney Museum.

It’s an image of Haliaeetus albicilla, the White-Tailed Eagle and not an Aquila chrysaetos, the Golden Eagle. I can tell that because it’s wearing short trousers. There’s no point wearing long trousers if you’re going to get them wet in the sea catching fish. Evolution works that way. People killed all the White-Tailed Eagles in the UK during the early 20th century so they went extinct and the present tiny population is descended from reintroduced birds. I’ve never seen one.

The Picts were a people of north and east Scotland who had painted bodies or wore tattoos. The origin of the name Picts is the same as picture. It’s a fabulous image, beautifully executed. Pictured by the Picts.