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History glossary

Picts

peoples of northern Britain who remained outside Roman and later Anglo-Saxon rule.

Category
Historical group
Region
Britain
Date range
Late antiquity and early medieval period

What it means

The Picts were peoples of northern Britain, especially in what is now Scotland. Roman and early medieval writers treated them as distinct from the Britons, Scots, and Anglo-Saxons, though their exact identity and language remain debated.

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