Scotland in the early Middle Ages

Scotland was divided into a series of kingdoms in the early Middle Ages, i.e. between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 AD and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900 AD. Of these, the four most important to emerge were the Picts, the Gaels of Dál Riata, the Britons of Alt Clut, and the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia. After the arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th century, Scandinavian rulers and colonies were established on the islands and along parts of the coasts. In the 9th century, the House of Alpin combined the lands of the Scots and Picts to form a single kingdom which constituted the basis of the Kingdom of Scotland. ^[1]

Scotland has an extensive coastline, vast areas of difficult terrain and poor agricultural land. In this period, more land became marginal due to climate change, resulting in relatively light human settlement, particularly in the interior and Highlands. Northern Britain lacked urban centres and settlements were based on farmsteads and around fortified positions such as brochs, with mixed farming primarily based on self-sufficiency. In this period, changes in settlement and colonisation meant that the Pictish and Brythonic languages began to be subsumed by Gaelic, Scots, and, at the end of the period, by Old Norse. Life expectancy was relatively low, leading to a young population, with a ruling aristocracy, freemen, and relatively large numbers of slaves. Kingship was multi-layered, with different kings surrounded by their warbands that made up the most important elements of armed forces, and who engaged in both low-level raiding and occasional longer-range, major campaigns. ^[2]

Some highly distinctive monumental and ornamental art, culminating in the development of the Insular art style, are common across Britain and Ireland. The most impressive structures included nucleated hill forts and, after the introduction of Christianity, churches and monasteries. The period also saw the beginnings of Scottish literature in British, Old English, Gaelic and Latin languages.

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^ People first occupied Scotland in the Paleolithic era. Small groups of hunter-gatherers lived off the land, hunting wild animals and foraging for plants. Natural disasters were a serious threat – around 6200BC a 25m-high tsunami devastated coastal communities in the Northern Isles and eastern Scotland.
^ Ancient Scotland was made up of four separate groups: Angles, Britons, Picts and Gaels (or Scoti), who each spoke a different language. Latin became the common language of the whole country only after the Christianisation of Scotland in the 6th century AD. In fact, a more recent territory in Oceania, New-Caledonia, actually originated from Caledonia, an old Latin name for Scotland, deriving from the Caledonii tribe. It is unknown what name the Caledonians used of themselves, although it was possibly based on a Brythonic word for "hard" or "tough" (represented by the modern Welsh caled).
^ New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km east of Australia, and 17,000 km from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea.

[1] People first occupied Scotland in the Paleolithic era. Small groups of hunter-gatherers lived off the land, hunting wild animals and foraging for plants. Natural disasters were a serious threat – around 6200BC a 25m-high tsunami devastated coastal communities in the Northern Isles and eastern Scotland.

[2] Ancient Scotland was made up of four separate groups: Angles, Britons, Picts and Gaels (or Scoti), who each spoke a different language. Latin became the common language of the whole country only after the Christianisation of Scotland in the 6th century AD. In fact, a more recent territory in Oceania, New-Caledonia, actually originated from Caledonia, an old Latin name for Scotland, deriving from the Caledonii tribe. It is unknown what name the Caledonians used of themselves, although it was possibly based on a Brythonic word for "hard" or "tough" (represented by the modern Welsh caled).

[3] New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km east of Australia, and 17,000 km from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea.

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