The domain of the Picts was what we consider today to be Scotland. The terms "Picts" and "Pictland" were used in speaking of the inhabitants and the area up until 900, when the country began to be called "Alba."

The Picts had a warrior society, "and warlords needed strongholds. When Columba visited the Pictish king, Bridei, son of Maelchon, in 565, he went to one of the royal fortresses; it was 'near the river Ness' and the most widely accepted identification is Castle Urguhart on Loch Ness... where the medieval castle overlies earlier occupation..." (Nicoll 23) Several Pictish forts have been excavated, revealing that the warlords lived in style, wearing great silver chains and beautiful jewelry. A Pict's life was not altogether different than that of his southern Celtic neighbors; they all spoke a very similar language, as the Pictish language is convincingly argued to have been P-Celtic or Brittonic.

Some archaeological information comes from uncovered Pictish hoards (prior to safe-deposit boxes and banks, a method used to protect valuales was to bury them; inevitably, some remained unclaimed). Brooches and dress-pins have survived from these hoards. The absence of grave-goods, indicating that the Picts did not think much of the practice of burying valuables with the dead, "presumably has implications for their pagan concept of death" (Nicoll 25).

Small painted stones used as charms, distinctively Pictish, have also been found.

For an exhaustive bibliography and a small over-view of the Picts, as well as a continuation of the information on this page, check out A Pictish Panorama: The Story of the Picts and a Pictish Bibliography, edited by Eric H. Nicoll, printed by Pinkfoot Press in 1995.