- Early Christianity and its Monuments -
freestanding cross production in areas where stone was less suited for the production
of larger crosses. Most cross-carved stones are extremely difficult to date because
chronology relies on the typology and ornamental style of the cross symbol.I2
The Later Monuments
In general, the simple form of monument gave way to more elaborate freestanding
carved stones associated with the development of ecclesiastical centres. Crosses were
no longer partly modified gravestones, but the elaborate monuments of workshops
under monastic or royal patronage. Dating of freestanding crosses is problematic
and the subject of continuing debate, which depends on a few inscriptions dated by
reference to persons historically attested elsewhere, art-historical comparisons and
theoretical progressions.13 Most have cross-head and shaft carved in one, and
Irish examples may be topped by a capstone in the form of a cone, a roof-shape or
house-shaped shrine. Cross bases may take the form of truncated pyramids (some-
times stepped), though a number have rough boulders for bases, and some no bases
at all. It has recently been pointed out that almost 30 per cent of Irish crosses have
no ring, and that one characteristic which distinguishes most crosses from Anglo-
Saxon examples is the cross form, based on an extended Latin cross, as opposed to
an equal-armed cross on a pillar (Kelly 1993: 221).
Local traditions of carving soon developed, probably in the late eighth century.
Some craftsmen, presumably with instructions from patrons, concentrated on
abstract interlace ornament of Insular tradition, others on elaborate figural icono-
graphy,14 and some on aspects of both. A characteristic shared by many is the
organization of figural scenes and abstract ornament into discrete panels. In Wales
the custom of erecting freestanding crosses in stone from the ninth century is
thought to have spread from adjacent parts of Britain. Structurally the monuments
fall into two basic types - cross-slabs and high crosses - within which regional
groups can be identified. Most surviving freestanding crosses from Cornwall are of
more recent date (late eleventh-thirteenth century), and Langdon divided his 260
examples into Class A: unornamented crosses, Class B: ornamented crosses, and
Class C: miscellaneous monuments. The latter includes five early cross-slabs. IS
Romilly Allen's Class I symbol stones in Pictland have no crosses, but the eighth-
century Pictish stones had adapted the Christian symbol of the cross in low relief,
usually in the Anglo-Saxon form of a cross-on-a-pillar, as a main motif on their large
cross-slabs with straight or gable-shaped tops (Romilly Allen Class II). They are
difficult to date - this is usually reliant on ornament and the typology of the cross
symbol - and some may overlap chronologically with those of Class I. Most are
thought to date from the early eighth century onwards (generally eighth-ninth
century). These slabs provided a greater area for ornamentation, and their skilful
composition in stone has been compared with great carpet pages of illuminated
manuscripts such as the Book of Durrow or Lichfield Gospels, possibly involving a
similar degree of forethought and planning. On the front would be the Cross symbol
bearing interlace and cruciform ornament, flanked by figures, while the back would
bear Pictish symbols and figure sculpture, often including riders, hunts or biblical
scenes. The relief sculpture of the Picts may derive from early Northumbrian755