Winner: Arts and Business Scottish Awards
2010
Winner: Hollis Sponsorship UK Awards 2011
The project was born when The Glenmorangie Company was inspired
by the stunning Hilton of Cadboll stone, on display in the Museum’s
Early People gallery. The stone was
found near the Glenmorangie distillery in Tain, Easter Ross and has
been used as inspiration for the company’s brand logo (right).
The Early Historic period (around AD 300 – 900) is a very
important part of Scotland’s past – coming immediately before the
birth of the earliest political entity known as ‘Scotland’. Yet, it
is not very well known; to many people it needs situating in time
in relation to more familiar periods – the Romans coming just
before, and the Vikings appearing just after.
The project is undertaking a massive amount of new research on
the archaeology of this period. Beautiful, elaborate and
sophisticated objects, sculptured stones, and manuscripts were
produced in Scotland during this time.
Click on the images below to see some treasures from our Early
Historic Scotland collection.
An important aspect of the partnership and research has been
working with contemporary craftspeople to make versions of objects
from this Early Historic period. These artistic commissions give us
a unique opportunity to gain insights into people and society that
made and used them. You can explore the making of one of these
commissions – a wooden throne –
here.
Extension of the project
We're delighted to announce the extension of the project for a
further three years until the end of 2013, allowing us to undertake
more innovative research and bring to life other important objects
from the period.
Early Medieval Scotland publication
The findings of the Glenmorangie Early Historic
Scotland are now revealed in a new illustrated book which uses
objects to explore the lives of individuals and communities during
this period, as well as their ideas and ideologies.
The book presents a re-evaluation of this key period of
Scotland's past, a time that saw the creation of some of the most
treasured and enigmatic objects from within the National Museum of
Scotland's collections.
Early Medieval Scotland: Individuals, Communities and
Ideas by David Clarke, Alice Blackwell and Martin Goldberg is
published by National Museums Scotland and can be purchased from
the online
shop.
Traprain Law dish
Buried around the middle of the 5th century AD, the hoard
of Roman silver from Traprain Law in East Lothian is the largest
known from outside the Roman Empire. And amongst more than 250
pieces of hacked-up Roman silver from the hoard are two small
pieces from one of the biggest silver dishes in the whole of the
Roman world.
New research combined with laser scanning technology have
allowed us to reconstruct for the first time quite how big this
dish was and how sumptuously it was decorated. Find out more about the Traprain Law dish project
here.