The People of Scotland

Picts

When the Romans invaded Scotland c.80 AD they called the inhabitants Picti, meaning painted, as they decorated their faces and bodies with dyes.

The main groups of Picts were the Caledonii, occupying the Grampians, Highlands and western islands, and the Maeatae, in Kincardineshire, Perthshire and Fife. Despite this very little remains of these people.

Ptolemy listed 12 tribes from around the 2nd century AD with the Caledonii and Maeatae being mentioned as existing towards the end of that century. The first actual mention of these people was in 297 when Emperor Constantine referred to Caledonians and other Picts; around 314 AD the Scoti, Picti and Caledonii were mentioned.

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