Portmahomack: Monastery of the Picts

A trail of chance finds on the outskirts of Portmahomack during the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in 1996 in the first exposure of a Pictish settlement in northern Scotland. The area soon became the subject of one of the largest research excavations ever to have taken place on the Scottish mainland. Discover the world of the Picts with this unique account of the discovery and excavation of an early monastery. Dating from the 6th to the 9th century AD, Portmahomack is one of the earliest Christian sites to be revealed in Britain and the first in the land of the Picts. The monastery was destroyed between 780 and 830 AD and was then lost to history before being unearthed by Martin Carver and his colleagues. In this highly illustrated book, Martin Carver describes the discovery of the site and the design and execution of the research programme, then traces the events that occurred from the mid-6th century to the 11th century when the parish church was founded on the former monastic site. The book ends with the subsequent history of the church of St Colman and a study of the Tarbat peninsula.The author’s conclusions advance the theory that this was a prehistoric place before the monks arrived, and that they marked out the boundaries of their estate in the late 8th century with the lives of local saints carved on some of the greatest stone sculptures of the age.

Reviews of Portmahomack: Monastery of the Picts

A gripping tale of discovery and detection, at once accessible and scholarly. — William Dalrymple This is the popular book of that (ten-year) project … a true academic, Carver has the confidence to write fresh, clear, direct, prose. Current Archaeology A highly readable and very personal, not to say personable, account of both the project and the interpretation of the site. — Alex Woolf, University of St Andrews History Scotland Beautifully written and beautifully clear… it is impossible to imagine a better example of complex and subtle ideas made comprehensible without distortion. — Peter Davidson, University of Aberdeen A gripping tale of discovery and detection, at once accessible and scholarly. This is the popular book of that (ten-year) project … a true academic, Carver has the confidence to write fresh, clear, direct, prose. A highly readable and very personal, not to say personable, account of both the project and the interpretation of the site. Beautifully written and beautifully clear… it is impossible to imagine a better example of complex and subtle ideas made comprehensible without distortion.