Inchmarnock (Scottish Gaelic: Innis Mheàrnaig) is an island at the northern end of the Sound of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland.

He has also lent his name to a number of other locations: At the northern end of the island a Bronze Age cist contains the remains of a female skeleton, the Queen of the Inch.

[9][5] The Inchmarnock Project was a seven-year study, commencing in 1999,[10] of the archaeology and history of the island from the earliest times down to the Improvements of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Within this long chronology of activity some periods are better represented than others, but the highlight of the project was the excavation in and around the medieval church which lies in the stack-yard at Midpark.

As 'pattern books' for the creation of designs in other media, the site potentially offers the opportunity of understanding better the context in which this material was produced.

There are clear indications that the monks who resided on the island were teaching novices the various skills expected of young monastic scholars.

In his recent work on the excavation,[12] Chris Lowe, the project director, indicates there has been extensive discussion on the meaning of this scene and highlights the difference in the stance and attitude of the three figures on the right of the stone compared to the one on the left.

An alternative interpretation is put forward by Katherine Forsyth of the University of Glasgow, who suggests that the scene may represent the procession of a reliquary by an ecclesiastical figure, with the armed individuals providing protection.

[4] Inchmarnock is home to the largest colony of herring gulls in the Firth of Clyde and is a wintering ground for greylag geese.