Pictish Queen Bronze Sculpture Portmahomack Easter Ross and Cromarty.
Portmahomack (Scottish Gaelic: Port Mo-Chalmáig) is a small fishing village in Easter Ross, Scotland. Situated 9 miles east of Tain on the northern coast of the Tarbat Peninsula, Portmahomack has long been known to be on the site of early settlements. The earliest evidence of habitation is provided by shell middens pointing to settlement as early as one or two thousand years BCE. There are the remains of an Iron Age broch a little to the west of the village, and aerial photography has revealed cropmarks of a large ditched enclosure centring on the former parish church. Finds of elaborate early Christian carved stones dating to the 8th-9th centuries AD (including one with an inscription), in and around the churchyard, had long suggested that Portmahomack was the site of an important early church. Recently Archaeological excavations directed by Professor Martin Carver of the University of York (Carver, 2006), have confirmed Portmahomack is the site of a major Pictish monastery, probably a daughter house of Iona. Evidence points to a religious settlement founded in the late sixth or early seventh century, possibly by St Columba himself, who may be the original of the name found in hypocoristic form as 'Mo-Cholmóc' in Portmahomack, which means 'haven of St Colmóc'. Archaeological evidence of a layer of burning and shattered sculpture suggests that this evidently rich monastery was violently destroyed, probably in a Viking raid, about the year 800. The tradition of holiness survived sufficiently strongly to allow the site to become that of the later medieval parish church. The present restored building, adapted to house a museum after lying empty for a number of years, has been shown by archaeological investigation to be itself a monument of great interest, of multi-phase construction, the oldest part (the east wall of the crypt) having been built as early as the ninth century AD. Today, Portmahomack is a tourist destination with its traditional harbour, swimming beach,
Size: 3733px × 5620px
Location: Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack, Easter Ross and Cromarty
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ancient, archaeological, artefacts, britain, british, bronze, centre, cross, discovery, europe, excavations, explore, fishing, great, historic, history, interest, isles, medieval, northern, peninsula, people, pictish, picts, places, portmahomack, queen, race, remains, roman, scotland, scottish, statue, tarbat, times, trail, travel, uk
