Editing Picts (section)

==Origins==
{{Location map+|UK Scotland Pictish Kingdom|width=200|float=right|alt=Pictish Kingdoms|caption=Pictland and neighbouring territories, c. early 8th century AD.
: |places=
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=57|long=-4.9|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000">'''''Pictland'''''</span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=56.2|long=-2.6|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Fib''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=56.6|long=-1.9|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Circin''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=57.5|long=-2.8|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Fortriu''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=57.2|long=-2.2|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Ce''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=56.6|long=-4.5|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Atholl''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=56.4|long=-7.0|label=<span style="COLOR:#0070C0"><small>'''''Dál Riata'''''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=56|long=-5.1|label=<span style="COLOR:#0070C0"><small>'''''Manaw'''''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=58.2|long=-4.5|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Cat''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=57.3|long=-6.8|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Sci''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=59|long=-3.6|label=<span style="COLOR:#000000"><small>''Orc''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=55.2|long=-0.4|label=<span style="COLOR:#0070C0"><small>'''''Northumbria'''''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
  {{Location map~|Scotland|lat=55.6|long=-5.2|label=<span style="COLOR:#0070C0"><small>'''''Britons'''''</small></span style>|marksize=0}}
   }}The origin myth presented in [[Bede]]'s ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]''  describes the Picts as settlers from [[Scythia]] who arrived on the northern coast of Ireland by chance. Local [[Scoti]] leaders redirected them to northern Britain where they settled, taking Scoti wives.<ref>{{harvnb|Skene|1867|p=4}}; translation in {{harvnb|Anderson|1922|p=cxvii}}; {{harvnb|Fraser|2009|pp=238–239}}</ref> The ''[[Pictish Chronicle]]'', repeating this story,  further names the mythical founding leader ''Cruithne'' (the Gaelic word for ''Pict''), followed by his sons, whose names correspond with the seven provinces of Pictland: ''[[Circin]]'', ''Fidach'', ''[[Fortriu]]'', ''[[Atholl|Fotla]]'' (''Atholl''), ''[[Kingdom of Cat|Cat]]'', ''[[Cé (Pictish territory)|Ce]]'' and ''[[Fife|Fib]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Skene|1867|p=4}}; translation in {{harvnb|Anderson|1922|p=cxvii}}</ref> Bede's account has long been recognised as pseudohistorical literary invention,<ref>{{harvnb|Wainwright|1955|p=25}}; {{harvnb|Smyth|1984|p=59}}; {{harvnb|Fraser|2009|p=238}}; {{harvnb|Fraser|2011}}</ref> and is thought to be of Pictish origin, composed around 700.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|2009|p=239}}</ref> Its structure is similar to the origin myths of other peoples and its main purpose appears to have been to legitimise the  annexation of Pictish territories by Fortriu and the creation of a wider Pictland.<ref>{{harvnb|Fraser|2009}}; {{harvnb|Fraser|2011}}; {{harvnb|Evans|2019}}</ref> 

A study published in 2023 sequenced the whole genomes from eight individuals associated with the Pictish period, excavated from cemeteries at [[Lundin Links]] in Fife and [[Balintore, Easter Ross]]. The study observed "broad affinities" between the mainland Pictish genomes, [[Ancient Britons|Iron Age Britons]] and the present-day people living in western Scotland, [[Wales]], [[Northern Ireland]] and [[Northumbria]], but less with the rest of England, supporting the current archaeological theories of a "local origin" of the Pictish people.<ref>{{harvnb|Morez et al.|2023}}</ref>