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The Pictish Beast (sometimes Pictish Dragon or Pictish Elephant) is an artistic representation of an animal depicted on Pictish symbol stones. ==Design== The Pictish Beast is not easily identifiable with any real animal, but resembles a seahorse, especially when depicted upright. Suggestions have included a dolphin, a kelpie (or ''each uisge''), and even the Loch Ness Monster. Recent thinking is that the Pictish Beast might be related to the design of dragonesque brooches, which were S-shaped pieces of jewelry, made from the mid-1st to the 2nd century CE, that depict double-headed animals with swirled snouts and distinctive ears. These have been found in southern Scotland and northern England. The strongest evidence for this is the presence on the Mortlach 2 stone of a symbol very similar to such a brooch, next to and in the same alignment as a Pictish Beast. The Pictish Beast accounts for about 40% of all Pictish animal depictions, and so was likely of great importance. The Pictish Beast is thought to have been an important figure in Pictish mythology, and possibly even a political symbol. File:Martin's Stone - geograph.org.uk - 14993.jpg|St Martin's stone File:Strathmartine castle stone.jpg|Strathmartine Castle Stone 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pictish Beast」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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