1 Between prehistory and history: the archaeological detection of social change among the Picts

supplementary material. The development of small-scale kingdoms in the post-Roman world of north-west Europe is a key stage in the subsequent emergence of medieval states. In the absence of adequate historical evidence, however, much that is known about this period is reliant on archaeological investigation of formative centres of power. Recent excavations at Rhynie in north-eastern Scotland have thrown important light on the emergence of one such kingdom, that of the Picts. Enclosures, sculptured ‘symbol stones’ and long-distance luxury imports identify Rhynie as a place of growing importance during the fifth to sixth centuries AD. Parallels can be drawn with similar processes in southern Scandinavia, where leadership combined roles of ritual and political authority. The article also highlights the growing evidence for a range of Pictish enclosed sites that emerge in the same time period and where dating suggests that, through time, power was increasingly focused on larger and more elaborate fortified places. A transitional stage in the development of new power structures in the fifth to sixth centuries AD in north-eastern Scotland was hence superseded by the establishment of increasingly Christianised and centralised Pictish kingdoms in the seventh century. The excavations at Rhynie and the synthesis of dated Pictish enclosures are excellent examples of the contribution that archaeolog