who were the picts

The Picts were an ancient people who lived in what is now eastern and northern Scotland from around AD 300 to AD 900. They were a confederation of tribal units, probably descendants of the native Iron Age and Bronze Age peoples of Britain, often linked to the Caledonii and other local tribes. The Romans called them "Picti," meaning "painted ones," due to their practice of body painting or tattooing, though modern scholars dispute if that was their own name. The Picts are known for their distinctive carved stones with symbols and artwork, and their society played a key role in resisting Roman and later Anglo-Saxon expansion in Britain. By the 9th century, the Picts merged with the Gaels to form the Kingdom of Alba, the early foundation of Scotland. Their culture, language (likely Celtic with some unique features), and history have been pieced together from Roman accounts, medieval sources, and archaeology, as the Picts themselves left no written records.