A Fragmented Masterpiece. Recovering the Biography of the Hilton of Cadboll Pictish Cross-slab

The cross-slab from Hilton of Cadboll in Highland is one of the best-known and most beautiful early medieval sculptures in Britain. Archaeological excavations in 2001 (initiated and managed for Historic Scotland and its partners by Sally Foster) provided a wealth of new information and prompted a major, multi-disciplinary reanalysis of this Pictish sculpture by a team of scholars. The sculpture's 1500-year-old story is rewritten. A biographical approach to the history of ths monument has enabled the changing meanings and values of the monument to be traced through time and has contributed to a wider understanding of attitudes towards early medieval sculpture