One of the first and most mysterious villages in Scotland are pictos. People formed by various tribes, their society was not much different from other Anglo-Saxon societies in the south.
However, picts attract attention for a very different reason. They are said to have the whole body full of tattoos to scare their enemies… Find out more by reading this article!
“ Tattooed” or ‘fighters’?
The mystery that surrounds the pictos starts even from their own name. On the one hand, the most accepted etymology of its names comes from Latin (the Romans were among the first to record their existence, in addition to the picts themselves, with several stone monuments) picti, which means ‘tattooed’.
However, it is also believed that the etymology of its name could come from a very different source, more specifically from the Celtic Peihta, which means’ fighter ‘.
Be that as it may, these people had a society based on livestock and agriculture, although they are also said to be fierce warriors…
Pictos tattoos, insurance in battle
And it is said that the pictos were specialists when it came to scare the staff. When they participated in a battle, they were on the front line totally naked, showing their tattoos from head to toe. And see who was the handsome guy who didn’t run out!
In fact, there is no evidence to determine that this tribe was tattooed. It is true that some contemporaries described them like this, and that they themselves portrayed themselves with lines decorating their body. Fear of the unknown could have led to describing them as tattooed warriors when, in reality, the body could have been decorated with temporary drawings, the famous war paintings.
Be that as it may, pictos are a very interesting town that has gone down in history because of the drawings that decorated his body (and thanks to films like Conan the Barbarian and video games like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice . Tell us, did you know this tribe of Scotland? Remember that you can tell us what you want in the comments!
