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.

Pictish recorded history begins in the Dark Ages.

Fortriu, cognate with the Verturiones of the Romans; was recently shown to be centered around Moray.

The means by which the Pictish confederation formed in Late Antiquity from a number of tribes is unknown, although there is speculation that reaction to the growth of the Roman Empire was a factor.

The Picts by the sixth century organized at least two kingdoms north of the River Forth.

De Situ Albanie, a late document, the Pictish Chronicle, the Duan Albanach, along with Irish legends, have been used to argue the existence of seven Pictish kingdoms.

More small kingdoms may have existed.

Some evidence suggests that a Pictish kingdom also existed in Orkney.

De Situ Albanie is not the most reliable of sources, and the number of kingdoms, one for each of the seven sons of Cruithne, the eponymous founder of the Picts, may well be grounds enough for disbelief.

The Pictish nation, regardless of the exact number of kingdoms and their names, was not a united one.