The Picts are one of Scotland’s greatest mysteries: an apparently vanished nation, chronicled by others but not by themselves. The Picts speak to us only through their inspiring creativity – their marvellous carved stones, their monumental hillforts and their beautiful jewellery.

We have created a learning resource to get young people inspired by a mysterious chapter of our history.

The Picts: a learning resource (PDF)

The learning resource provides an introduction to a topic rich in imagination, creativity and enquiry. Through discovery, exploration and sharing, teachers can engage young people by inspiring curiosity and inviting them to investigate this hidden part of their history and the evidence it has left in our culture and environment.

The resource acts as a portal to enable the discovery of local sites and resources, integrating them with national learning resources such as SCRAN.

The learning resource aims to:

• inspire and encourage practitioners to engage with this fascinating topic;
• bring the early historic Picts alive through a series of classroom and place-based activities (particularly focused on the hillforts on Scotland’s national forests and land);
• encourage teachers and pupils to explore their local museums, archaeological sites and historic monuments; and to
• promote the active engagement of schools with the wealth of historic and archaeological learning resources available both online and in print.

Key sites to visit

• Dun da Lamh: One of the best preserved forts in the Highlands with impressive walls and superb views of the countryside around.
• Dun Deardail: A vitrified fort in Glen Nevis close to Fort William.
• Craig Phadrig: A vitrified hillfort located just a few minutes’ drive from the centre of Inverness.