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Tarbat 2 Description of stone
Event ID 1037333
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1037333
Portmahomack, Tarbat 2 (TR 2), Ross and Cromarty, cross-slab fragments
Measurements: 2 & 2a H 0.49m, W 0.47m, D 0.05m; 2b H 0.32m, W 0.46m, D 0.05m; 2c H 0.21m, W 0.19m, D 0.04m
Stone type: grey-green sandstone
Place of discovery: NH 9149 8402
Present location: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (X.IB.280-1)
Evidence for discovery: the four fragments were found lying in the churchyard sometime before 1776. They were later taken to Invergordon Castle and preserved in a room in the tower.
Present condition: damaged and worn.
Description
The three larger fragments belong to the central portion of a large cross-slab, while the small fragment 2c is probably part of the right-hand edge of the slab. They are carved in relief on one broad face, which is dominated by the shaft of a cross, bordered by roll moulding, which shows a return at the base, possibly the foot of the cross. The panel within the shaft is filled with a dense pattern based on ring-knot interlace. The background to the shaft was clearly divided up into panels filled with variations on serpentine ornament including bosses.
Date range: eighth or ninth century.
Primary references: Cordiner 1776, 66; ECMS pt 3, 88-90; Carver et al 2016, 123, 125, 161, D42.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2018
