Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Mediaeval treasures and a peek at how we were then

Mediaeval treasures and a peek at how we were then

Tomorrow, an exciting new exhibition opens at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Supported by Tain-based The Glenmorangie company, the exhibition will reveal new insights into the people and society of the early mediaeval times, a period when elaborate and sophisticated objects, sculptured stones and manuscripts were produced in Scotland.

Treasures from the national collections, along with contemporary creations by artists and crafts people, will let visitors lift the veil on what was a fascinating time in Scotland.

Due to the organic materials from which many early mediaeval objects were made, such as horn and leather, only fragments survive today.

To understand these objects and the skills required to make them, National Museums archaeologists worked with craftsmen and women and artists to recreate these original techniques.

Producing recreations of significant artefacts reveals what these objects might have looked like in their original state.

Mhairi Maxwell, Glenmorangie research officer, National Museums Scotland, said: “Each of the artefacts in Creative Spirit played an important role in Scotland’s early communities and our work with contemporary artists and crafts people has really brought these rare objects back to life.

“Piecing them together lets us re-interpret the evidence surrounding these objects, how they were made and how they could have been used, telling us more than ever before about early mediaeval Scotland.”

The exhibition presents the latest findings of the Glenmorangie Research Project.

Since 2008, this award-winning partnership between the whisky firm and the museum has been generating exciting new research into this period in history and furthering our understanding of Scotland’s early mediaeval people.

For this exhibition, digital technology has been used to reveal some of the lost intricacy and beauty of many objects.

For example, the missing elements of the delicate 8th-century Monymusk Reliquary have been digitally recreated, allowing visitors to see inside this bronze, copper and silver casket for the first time.

Following laser scanning and digital reconstruction of surviving pieces, the Traprain Law Dish is shown to be one of the largest silver dishes from the Roman Empire. The dish is part of a silver hoard buried at Traprain Law more than 1,500 years ago.

The recreation of a large iron and bronze hand-bell, inspired by Scotland’s largest example, the Birnie Bell, reveals how the arts of bronze casting and blacksmithing were brought together in this ancient form of bell, while an imposing Pictish drinking horn demonstrates how early makers may have worked with cattle horn to produce beautiful, glassy, translucent finishes.

The recreation of an early Christian leather satchel from Loch Glashan, Argyll, the type which would have been used by monks to carry and protect the Bible, has challenged previous interpretations of the surviving fragments.

Meanwhile, research into Norrie’s Law Hoard, the largest collection of Pictish silver ever to have been found in Scotland, has uncovered a Victorian mystery surrounding the origins of almost identical pairs of objects.

Hamish Torrie, head of communications with Glenmorangie, said: “As a company, we are very proud of our Scottish roots, which is why our brand emblem is inspired by the 8th-century Pictish Hilton of Cadboll Stone, originally discovered just along from the distillery at Tain.

“It is also why we support the important research of this period of Scottish history at National Museums Scotland. This exhibition shows what extraordinary objects of beauty and luxury existed at that time.”

The exhibition will be supported by a programme of events, including:

Thursday, October 31, 2pm (free): Curator, Martin Goldberg and Glenmorangie research officer Mhairi Maxwell introduce highlights of the exhibition.

Saturday, December 7, noon-4pm (free). Makers involved in this exhibition discuss their creative processes. There’s a mixture of drop-in and bookable sessions: see www.nms.ac.uk/adults for details.

The same day, from 1.30-4.30pm, artist-jewellery, Dorothy Hogg will lead a jewellery workshop (£25 or £22 members and concessions).

Saturday, January 18, 2pm. What can we learn from re-examining replicas, the responses of contemporary artists to the magnificent stone sculptures of early mediaeval Scotland, and from recreating these ancient monuments using innovative digital technology? Includes a glass of Glenmorangie Original, and costs £10.

What: Creative Spirit: Revealing Early Mediaeval Scotland.

Where: National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh.

When: Runs from tomorrow, October 25, until Sunday, February 23, 2014. Opening hours are 10am-5pm daily.

Cost: Free of charge.

Contact: 0300 123 6789 or visit www.nms.ac.uk