Long before Gaelic kings and Viking raiders shaped Scotland’s destiny, a powerful people reigned over the rugged lands of the north — the Picts, known to the Romans as the Painted Ones. From the third to the ninth centuries AD, they carved their history in stone — spirals, beasts, and enigmatic symbols still standing like whispers from another age. Among these symbols and graves, one truth stands out: Pictish women wielded extraordinary power. Their society may have been matrilineal, meaning kin