The significance of the early medieval monastic complex discovered in Portmahomack can hardly be overstated. Parchment makers tools found at Portmahomack (Courtesy of University of York/FAS Heritage) So could the Book of Kells could be have been produced in the Highlands? The archaeological evidence These archeological discoveries suggest that the site at Portmahomack is arguably the only one which would have been capable of producing such a complex manuscript as the Book of Kells. The church building is now The Tarbat Discovery Centre, a museum telling the story of the site. A workshop that produced books and fine metalwork was also uncovered. It included an elite farmstead, followed by a Pictish monastery. Over the next two decades what they uncovered turned out to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Europe. In 1994, archaeologists embarked upon an excavation in order to understand the site better. The Church of Saint Colman in Portmahomack on the Tarbat peninsula had been turning up interesting fragments of Pictish sculpture for many years. There are also some intriguing archeological clues. There has been great progress in research over the last two decades, leading to an accurate list of most of the pigments involved. We can try to find out more by looking at the pigments which make the Book so colourful. How parchment making would have looked at Portmahomack (Thomas Keyes)ĭespite a millennium in the public eye, there are still some very basic details about the Book of Kells we don’t know for sure, such as exactly when it was made, where and by who.

Book of kells