The Picts were one of the tribes in central and northern Scotland. They existed from Roman times up until the 10th century. They lived to the north of the Forth and Clyde. They were the descendants of the Caledonii and other tribes named by Roman historians or found on the map of Ptolemy. Pictland, also known as Pictavia, became the kingdom of Alba during the 10th century.
The name by the Picts called themselves is unknown. The Greek word ?????? (Latin Picti) first appears in a panegyric written by Eumenius in AD 297 and is taken to mean "painted or tattooed people" (Latin pingere "paint"). This may, however, be due to early folk etymology and the term likely has a Celtic origin, perhaps Pehta, Peihta (meaning "fighters")
Pictland had previously been described as the home of the Caledonii. Other tribes said to have lived in the area included the Verturiones, Taexali and Venicones. Except for the Caledonians, the names may be second- or third-hand: perhaps as reported to the Romans by speakers of Brythonic or Gaulish languages
In the reign of C�naed's grandson, Caustant�n mac �eda (900�943), the kingdom of the Picts became the kingdom of Alba. The change from Pictland to Alba may not have been noticeable at first; indeed, as we do not know the Pictish name for their land, it may not have been a change at all. The Picts, and the Pictish language which marked them out, did not disappear suddenly. The process of Gaelicisation, which may have begun generations earlier, continued under Caustant�n and his successors. When the last inhabitants of Alba were Gaelicised, becoming Scots, probably during the 11th century, the Picts were soon forgotten. Later they would reappear in myth and legend.
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