This eagerly awaited volume presents the final results of a project that, thanks to various interim reports, journal articles and a preliminary synthesis published in 2008, has already transformed our understanding of the origins and development of early medieval monasticism in Pictland. This impressive publication leaves the reader in no doubt as to the importance of the site itself and the innovative nature of the project designed to investigate it. The project was a collaborative venture by the University of York and FAS Heritage, a commercial archaeology company, in close partnership with the Tarbat Historic Trust, and received major funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Highland Council and Historic Scotland (among other bodies). Its success in this regard was due in large part to the quality of the project design, an integral part of which was the conversion of St Colman’s church into a museum presenting the results of the excavation. At 0.741ha this is one of the most extensive excavations of an early medieval monastic site ever undertaken. The vital insights presented here emphasise how crucial it is that excavations of such sites are of a sufficient scale for their complex archaeology to become intelligible. Even so, this excavation represents about 20 per cent of the area enclosed by the monastic vallum, so the picture that emerges is far from complete, as the authors readily acknowledge. Following an introduction, two substantial chapters outline the scope, execution and outcome of the project, after which four chapters deal in turn with the main periods of occupation and a final chapter presents a wider discussion and conclusions. The main text is followed by a well-structured digest of the evidence, which in turn is underpinned by a detailed online archive curated by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS).

The earliest phase of activity, Period 1, dating to the later sixth and seventh centuries, takes the form of a barrow cemetery accompanied by a modest amount of settlement and evidence for iron-working and cereal cultivation. The presence of horse trappings suggests a community of considerable status. Whereas previously Period 1 had been interpreted as a monastery, possibly a daughter-house of Iona, here a strong case is made that it should instead be seen as the ‘estate centre’ of a kin-group, perhaps analogous to some of the ‘cemetery settlements’ excavated in Ireland. This is supported by the absence of clear-cut indicators of monasticism, or even of Christian affiliation. The changing composition of the cemetery – mixed in Period 1, predominantly adult males in Period 2 – is particularly telling in this regard. While the first of the two enclosure ditches could date to Period 1, here it is re-assigned to Period 2 and interpreted as the first iteration of the monastic vallum, symbolising a major change in the character of the site around ad 700. Equally striking, however, is the level of continuity between Periods 1 and 2 in terms of the positioning of settlement, craft activity and burials. The monastic graves, for example, were inserted in and around pre-existing burial mounds, which continued to exert a pull on the location of interments. By demonstrating direct continuity with a substantial pre-monastic settlement and cemetery, this project has made an important contribution to our understanding of the varied origins of insular monasteries.

The book’s contribution to our understanding of the nature of such establishments is immense. Highlights include: the monastery’s sophisticated water-management system, which may or may not have included a mill; its parchemenerie, representing the best archaeological evidence for early medieval vellum production in north-west Europe; its precisely laid out ‘bag-shaped buildings’, the best-preserved of which was used for fine metal- and glass-working, probably including the production of altar plate; and the wonderful collection of sculpture recovered during the excavations, which is analysed here to great effect. It includes several pieces of architectural sculpture, including a corbel carved with a human head, indicating the presence of a sophisticated stone church. Not surprisingly, given its cosmopolitan character, isotope analysis suggests that Portmahomack attracted a significant number of non-local recruits. Two pre-Viking individuals may even have been brought up in Scandinavia, though the specialist report makes clear that they could equally be from central Europe or, indeed, mountainous regions of Scotland.

The very fragmentary nature of the sculpture was due to an act of destruction around ad 800 that is plausibly attributed to the Vikings. Life resumes at Portmahomack almost immediately, however, though there is no further evidence for vellum production and there is a greater emphasis on personal adornment among the outputs of the metalworkers. This phase, which spans the ninth century (Period 3a), is characterised as a ‘trading farm’, though the authors acknowledge that it could instead represent a re-founded monastery adapting to changing political and economic circumstances. This, indeed, is strongly suggested by the fact that the Period 3 burials are still mainly middle-aged men. After all, personal adornments were also manufactured in Period 2 (including a stick pin, buckle and strap end), and this volume includes an excellent discussion of evidence from elsewhere in Europe of how commercial imperatives could co-exist with the monastic way of life. This is not to play down the significance of the changes after ad 800, however. One of the most interesting aspects of this project are the marked shifts in the economy of the site from a focus on cereal production in Period 1, to a cattle-based economy during the main monastic phase (Period 2), to a renewed emphasis on cereals in Period 3, exemplified by the conversion of the finest of the bag-shaped buildings from metal workshop to kiln-barn with upper floors for drying and storing grain. The authors see this shift in emphasis as part of a wider Viking Age trend.

However one chooses to characterise the site in the ninth century, it clearly declined dramatically in the turbulent two centuries that followed. In the twelfth century there was built a new stone church, which eventually became the focus for a substantial later medieval township. Quite rightly, these later phases of occupation are given equal billing in the biography of Portmahomack presented here, and an unarguable case is made that changing ideologies, especially changes in religious beliefs and affiliations, were key drivers in that millennium-long story. The authors are to be congratulated on a stunning achievement.