Recreating early medieval manuscripts: Tarbat Discovery Centre, Portmahomack

The elaborately decorated Book of Kells takes its name from the eponymous abbey in Co. Meath where it was kept for centuries, but it has been previously suggested that the early medieval manuscript was created on Iona. Now, thanks to a grant from the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, a new experimental archaeology initiative is exploring whether it could indeed have been produced in the Scottish Highlands. During this project, Master Craftsman Thomas Keyes aims to recreate the process of early medieval vellum production, drawing on archaeological evidence from Portmahomack, a Pictish monastery that flourished from c.AD 680 to 820. Excavations on the site, led by Professor Martin Carver