8.1 Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack
Between 1994 and 2007 archaeologists excavated an area around the church of St Colman at Portmahomack on the tip of Tarbat Ness. They discovered an extensive monastic settlement dating from the late 6th century.
The Tarbat Discovery Centre tells the story of this Christian settlement and its re-discovery by archaeologists.
Did Colmcille found a monastery here? Or does it date from a time before he arrived in Iona? If so, the Pictish people living here were already Christian. What is certain is that this monastery was of a significant size and scale – sometimes dubbed ‘the Iona of the east’.
Colmcille encountered Picts as he travelled through the Great Glen and up to the edge of modern Inverness. His biographer Adomnán records this journey and these meetings. The presence of a monastery at Portmahomack implies that the Picts in this area were already Christian yet Adomnán tells several stories of Colmcille converting Pictish people.
For centuries, the Picts had been an historical mystery. They were Celts – speaking a language very similar to Old Welsh – living in North Britain from the 3rd to the 9th century but few remains had been discovered. The excavation of the monastery revealed significant new information about their culture. One of the most notable records of Pictish civilisation are the carved stones found on and near Tarbat Ness.
The monks of Portmahomack had everything they needed to live and work – they had farm land, a mill, workshops for making sacred glassware and metalwork, and a church. About 150 people lived and worked here.
At the heart of the monastery was a workshop for the production of vellum – the writing surface used by monks for their illuminated manuscripts.
Vellum is made from animal skins. Excavations in Portmahomack have revealed frames used for stretching the vellum as it dries, and fireplaces where shells, bones and seaweed were burnt and made into solutions for smoothing the vellum.
Given that the monks were making their own vellum, it is probable that they may have also produced their own highly decorated gospel books similar to the Book of Kells.
Archaeologist Martin Carver has suggested that the four cross slabs found here were used to mark out the edges of the land controlled by the monastery at Portmahomack.
‘They were the most extraordinary artists. They could draw a wolf, a salmon, an eagle on a piece of stone with a single line and produce a beautiful naturalistic drawing. Nothing as good as this is found between Portmahomack and Rome. Even the Anglo-Saxons didn’t do stone-carving as well as the Picts did. Not until the post-Renaissance were people able to get across the character of animals just like that.’
Professor Martin Carver, University of York. (Lead archaeologist, Portmahomack excavations.)
The monastic settlement came to an end around 820AD when it appears to have been attacked, probably by Vikings.
Archaeologists have discovered burnt timbers dating from this time. They also discovered broken cross slabs which appear to have been destroyed at the same time.
Tarbat Ness
- 8.1 Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack
Between 1994 and 2007 archaeologists excavated an area around the church of St Colman at Portmahomack on the tip of Tarbat Ness. They discovered an extensive monastic settlement dating from the late 6th century. The Tarbat Discovery Centre tells the story of this Christian settlement and its re-discovery by archaeologists....
- 8.2 Hilton of Cadboll
Tarbat Ness is home to a number of standing stones which reflect the artistic skill and Christian faith of the Pictish people who carved them. The stones may have marked the boundary of the lands controlled by the monastery at Portmahomack. The cross-slab at Hilton of Cadboll is a replica...
- 8.3 Shandwick
The cross-slab stone at Shandwick is covered with Christian symbols. This is an expression of Pictish Christianity rather than being a stone which combines pagan and religious designs. There were probably a number of monastic settlements along this coast under control of the large monastery at nearby Portmahomack. The stone...
- 8.4 Nigg Stone
The Nigg Stone is one the finest carved Pictish stones. It was carved around 800AD - or perhaps earlier - and is covered in Christian symbols From the details of this carved stone, it is clear that there were close links between monks living in Nigg and Portmahomack, and the...
- 8.5 Craig Phadraig
Craig Phadraig is a wooded hill on the edge of Inverness. Follow the path up the hill to discover the possible remains of King Brude’s fort. Colmcille’s biographer Adomnán describes the saint visiting King Brude, the Pictish king, at his fort somewhere near the River Ness - possibly here at...
- 8.6 Other Pictish Stone Sites North of Inverness
Other Pictish stone sites Explore the history of the Picts along the east coast from Inverness northwards. The Highland Pictish Trail Trail highlighting 17 sites with Pictish stones, ranging from Inverness to Dunrobin near Golspie. A Catalogue of Pictish Stones at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery The catalogue lists all...
Bòrd na Gàidhlig
Great Glen House
Leachkin Road
Inverness
Scotland, IV3 8NW
(+44) 01463 225454
colmcille@gaidhlig.scot
Colmcille
Foras na Gaeilge, 2-6 Queen Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BT1 6ED
(+44) 028 9089 0970
colmcille@forasnagaeilge.ie
Colmcille
Foras na Gaeilge, An Chrannóg
Na Doirí Beaga
Gaoth Dobhair
Donegal, Ireland. F92 EYT3
(+353) 074 9560113
colmcille@forasnagaeilge.ie