Scottish Archaeology

What was it like to live in the medieval period? In what ways did extraordinary events affect the everyday? The first volume in the Everyday Life series answers these questions as it opens a window on medieval Scotland from 1000 to 1600. The everyday involves all that is common to humanity from the passage of birth through to the rites of death. To date the historiography of medieval Scotland has not been greatly concerned with the familiar and the day-to-day. In fact some might claim that the topic has been entirely ignored, until now. A strong international team of contributors draws upon a range of primary sources and published materials, as well as artefactual and archaeological evidence, to present as complete a picture as possible of how people experienced life and complex issues of identity, geography, language, family and subsistence over five hundred years ago.

The Lamont and Queen Mary harps of National Museums Scotland are two of the oldest surviving examples of the harp of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Growing interest in these iconic instruments has led to a need for new research into their materials and construction. With recent advances in imaging and analytical tools, these instruments can now be examined and understood to a much greater degree than previously possible.

With this in mind, the authors have undertaken a research project to study the Lamont and Queen Mary harps. Each harp underwent CT-scanning, and a visual and photographic survey, with x-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of selected areas of interest.  The CT scanning was conducted at the Clinical Research Imaging Centre of Queen's Medical Research Institute, and the survey and laboratory analysis were conducted at the National Museums Scotland Collection Centre.

This paper presents the initial findings of this project. The interior construction of the harps, hidden internal damage and repairs, pattern of the wood grain, and current state of the wood are discussed. Results of the visual and photographic survey and analysis of the composition of pigments and metal parts are also presented and discussed in the context of the findings from the CT scans. Additionally, contour maps of the soundboard thickness generated from the CT scanning data for each harp are presented.

This paper presents the results of the excavation of a single keyhole trench at the oblong vitrified fort of Dunnideer, Aberdeenshire, along with a brief history of the study of oblong forts and vitrification. The excavation yielded two radiocarbon dates derived from destruction layers, which are discussed along with the results of a limited programme of archaeomagnetic dating at the same location.

A number of Iron Age souterrain settlements in south-east Scotland have been found to have Neolithic cup and cup-and-ring marked stones in association with them, but interpretation of this phenomenon has been severely lacking. After investigating the positions and visibility of the carved stones in several accessible souterrain sites, and compiling evidence from reports and records of sites no longer available, the conclusion was made that the reuse of Neolithic rock art is not only a functional act, but generally an intentional and meaningful one. This dissertation will highlight the importance of interpretive archaeology in relation to rock art and its reuse, and emphasise the need for further study and protection of souterrain settlements to provide a greater understanding of the past.

The excavation of Trusty's Hill in Galloway in 2012 revealed the archaeological context for the Pictish Symbols carved on to bedrock at the entranceway to the fort. This Pictish inscribed stone is unique in Galloway and has long puzzled scholars as to why the symbols were carved so far from Pictland. The archaeological context suggests the carvings relate to a royal stronghold and place of inauguration for the local Britons of Galloway around AD 600. Examined in the context of contemporary sites across Scotland and northern England, the archaeological evidence from Galloway suggests that this region may have been the heart of the lost Dark Age kingdom of Rheged, a kingdom that was in the late sixth century pre-eminent amongst the kingdoms of the north. The new archaeological evidence from Trusty's Hill enhances our perception of power, politics, economy and culture at a time when the foundations for the kingdoms of Scotland, England and Wales were being laid.

For ordinary people, the impact of the Reformation would have centred around local parish churches, rather than the theological debates of the Reformers. Focusing on the Calvinists, this volume explores how the architecture, appearance and arrangement of places of worship were transformed by new theology and religious practice.

Based on original research and site visits, this book charts the impact of the Reformed faith across Europe, concentrating in particular on France, the Netherlands and Scotland. While in some areas a Calvinist Reformation led to the adaptation of existing buildings, elsewhere it resulted in the construction of new places of worship to innovative new designs. Reformed places of worship also reflected local considerations, vested interests and civic aspirations, often employing the latest styles and forms of decoration, and here provide a lens through which to examine not only the impact of the Reformation at a local level but also the character of the different religious settlements across Europe during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Radiocarbon dates for the Early Bronze Age of Northern England are presented, these provide an independent chronology for the Collared Urns of the region together with associated Accessory Vessels and grave goods. The results indicate that Collared Urns were in use in Northern England between 2000/1950 BC and 1600/1550 BC. Comparison of the dates obtained for Northern England show that they are broadly correspondent with those obtained for Ireland, Scotland and Wales in previous studies. This rebuts the idea that Collared Urns radiated from southern England, reaching northern and western Britain after a passage of time, instead the pattern is one of parallel development in all the regions considered here.

KEYWORDS
EARLY BRONZE AGE, COLLARED URNS, DATING, BRITISH PREHISTORY, IRISH PREHISTORY, SCOTTISH PREHISTORY, BURIAL BARROW, CHRONOLOGY, RADIOCARBON DATING, LANCASHIRE, NORTH WEST ENGLAND

A warrior with his spear marches to the left across the land in four known instances. Three of these spearmen are in the south of Pictland, at Collessie, Bertha(Tulloch), and Balgavies, and only one in the north, at Rhynie. This story started off asking what, and potentially who, this Spearman is. But it quickly fell into a swirling story, of Caledonians and Picts, massacres, grain, Romans, people and ideas facing each other at the far end of their world, and how the Spearman and the early Pictish symbol stones tell their own part in the story of this extraordinary moment in time and place. 

Connecting the Spearman to the Roman and high-status native context in which they are found, points to these Spearman stones being contemporary with the Severan campaign, and this dating is supported by the weapons and portrayal of northern native warriors of the time in Romano-Celtic art.  Archaeology, art history and environmental studies also point to a hiatus in southern Pictland after the Severan massacres, which leads to the conclusion that the CI stones of this southern area are dated to the early centuries AD, with their origin being in the late Iron Age pre-Roman flourishing of native culture.

Identifies Mons Graupius with Craig Rossie based on the local place-name Duncrub, the siting of Ptolemy's Victoria south of the Tay, a 115-acre Flavian camp at Dunning and an assesment of population and Roman military installations.
Identifies Portus Trucculensis with the River Nith and the Roman installations at Ward Law/Lantonside, through Ptolemy's place-name Uxelum>Fl.Uxelensis.

The axe-wielding and / or beast-headed human figures in Pictish sculpture-such as the Rhynie Man or the axe-brandishing centaur and men locked in combat on the Glamis Manse stone-continue to fascinate audiences, but their original significance is only now being recognised. Axe-or club-brandishing figures on Class I monuments share notable connections with those on Pictish Christian sculpture, suggesting that they had a long-lasting significance in Pictish culture. The placement of these unusual weapon-wielding figures on cross-slabs share marked similarities with artistic representations of pre-Christian deities in neighbouring cultures, particularly with the mixed pagan and Christian iconography of Scandinavian sculpture in Britain and the Isle of Man. Such comparative material suggests that these figures in Pictish sculpture represent pagan Pictish gods.

Recent research into the representation of pre-Christian mythology in early medieval sculpture, the identification of a pagan Pictish motif, and new archaeological discoveries suggest novel ways of interpreting and understanding these figures and their chronology. On Pictish cross-slabs and sculptured panels, such figures are usually not found in isolation, but instead form part of a carefully planned artistic programme, incorporating multiple deities or otherworldly beings from what was clearly a well-known narrative in pre-Christian Pictish religion. The frequent association of this iconographic narrative with a cross, in comparison with the assimilated pagan and Christian iconography and literature of neighbouring cultures, may indicate that this visual narrative represents the pre-Christian Pictish tradition of the apocalypse.

Analysis of the similar iconography on cross-slabs and panels that portray these figures thus indicates that a narrative sequence from pre-Christian Pictish religion has been assimilated into a new Christian context, and that the Picts, like the Scandinavian settlers, had an artistic culture that looked for parallels between pagan and Christian iconography, and used these parallels in meaningful combinations.

15th January 2020

This is a study of settlement and society in the parish of Torosay on the Inner Hebridean island of Mull, through the earliest known settlement-names of two of its medieval districts: Forsa and Moloros. The earliest settlement-names, 35 in total, were coined in two languages: Gaelic and Old Norse (hereafter abbreviated to ON). The settlement-toponymy provides irrefutable evidence that ON-speakers settled locally and named their settlements in ON. In subsequent centuries, long after ON ceased to be spoken locally, these ON settlement-names were perpetuated by local Gaelic-speakers. Many of these ON settlement-names are still used locally and are recorded on modern maps; others have fallen out of use. The same can be said of the earliest settlement-names of Gaelic origin. New etymological analysis of the earliest known forms of these settlement-names, considered alongside local pronunciation where available, forms the basis of this thesis. Much of this analysis challenges previous research. A number of the settlement-names have not hitherto been located or been subject to etymological analysis, no previous study having comprehensively engaged with their earliest forms. The earliest known forms are recorded in fiscal evaluation dating to the final decade of the 15th century and, as such, the settlement-names provide a window on the Late Medieval period. The settlement-names also provide an invaluable insight into settlement and society in the Norse period; i.e. the period in which ON was spoken locally. Norse is employed here as both an adjective, as in the Norse period, and a noun, in reference to speakers of ON. Thus, application is broadly to what is now Scandinavia and contemporary inhabitants thereof, as opposed to the more typical modern application of Norse to Norway and its inhabitants. Individual place-name elements employed in ON settlement-names provide an insight into how the local landscape was perceived and utilised agriculturally by these immigrant ON-speakers. In some cases, proposed personal names identify individuals associated with specific settlements. At least one ON settlement-name is likely to provide evidence of the religion of those who coined the name. Syntactic analysis of the Gaelic settlement-names highlights the possibility that some were coined in the Early Medieval period. It also identifies names which are perhaps unlikely to have been coined before the early 10th century. Loan-words borrowed in both directions, i.e. from Gaelic to ON and from ON to Gaelic, are identified and these reveal something of the chronology of individual settlement-names, in addition to providing evidence for language contact. The distribution of ON settlement-names and the fiscal status of settlements bearing ON names can also reveal something of the status of immigrant ON-speakers and the status of local Gaelic-speaking communities. The date of the earliest known forms probably post-dates the period in which these ON names were coined by around six centuries and this clearly allows for significant displacement of settlement-toponymy. However, settlement-names of ON origin apply to both settlements of principal and of relatively low fiscal status and the implication is that there was a significant amount of continuity in settlement-toponymy up to the date of the earliest known fiscal sources. The dearth of contemporary textual sources for the Early Medieval and Norse periods and of local archaeology relating to these periods identifies these settlement-names as invaluable sources of information for contemporary settlement, society and language in the districts of Forsa and Moloros. Part One Chapter 1 sets the research in context in providing geographical, geological, topographical, tenurial, ecclesiastical and fiscal information for the two districts. Chapter 2 comprises a review of previous studies on local settlement-toponymy. Chapter 3 identifies the sources which provide the earliest known forms and outlines the employed methodology. Chapter 4 provides an historical framework and engages with Norse toponymy furth of Mull across Britain and Ireland. Chapter 5 presents discursive analysis addressing the predominant research questions. Chapter 6 presents conclusions. Part Two The place-name survey presents raw spatial data and etymological analysis, where not included in chapter 5, for each of the 35 settlement-names.

Only about 400 of Scotland’s 4,000-year-old carved stone balls have been found. They are of fairly uniform size, with the diameters of most measuring around 2.75 inches. Fitting nicely within the cupped hand, they are made from a variety of stone -- from soft sandstones to hard granitics. The numbers of projections or knobs range from between three and 160, with six knobs being by far the most common. They display varying degrees of workmanship. A few, like the remarkable Towie Stone, display beautifully intricate carvings, while others are unadorned. All but five of the stones have been found in Scotland, with the majority discovered in the Aberdeenshire area. Along with its vitrified forts and Loch Ness Monster, these carved stone balls take their place as one of Scotland’s most enduring mysteries, and never fail to excite the inquisitive mind. Although many theories have been presented, no one is sure who made them or why. Here's what I think ...

As recognised by Ruggles and Burl in 1995, investigations of British lsles sites: "Must be done in the absence of independent evidence from historical documents, literature (and) myth ... indeed of any direct evidence apart from the archaeological record itself. ... One thing we can do is to look for repeated trends within the archaeological record, using them to suggest general principles that influenced people's actions within certain areas at certain times.'" In independent recognition of this technique, the orientation of the free-standing stones of western Scotland were investigated using cluster analyses previously developed for astronomy and astrophysics. Conclusive evidence
was published by Gail Higginbottom and Roger Clay supporting
the deliberate orientation of megaliths in this area. In particular,
it was shown that there is a greater geographical extent and
strength of orientation preferences in this area than previously
reported in the literature. Whilst within each of the 4 regions of
Uist, lslay (with Jura), Mull (which includes North Argyll, Coll and
Tiree) and Argyll (which includes Lorn) the majority of the sites
face similar directions, further investigation has demonstrated
that there is a difference in directions between these regions.
This may support the existence of sub-cultural indication preferences.

This was an M.Phil thesis done in Durham under the supervision of Professor Rosemary Cramp in the 1980s which has now been made publically available via their ethesis system.  It is somewhat outdated in terms of published data from individual sites from both Ireland and Scotland at this stage but the general problems about the interpretation of small chapel sites and their social function(s) are still live ones - as witnessed in papers given in TCD at the 17th Friends of Medieval Dublin seminar last Saturday (17th May 2015). Do they represent early attempts at provision of widespread pastoral care? family chapel sites? or early "monasteries" or at least monastic "granges" or some sort of amalgam of all of these?

The deposition of objects into water contexts is a custom that has permeated human tradition since prehistoric times and, in some form or another, is still being practiced today. The modern practice of dropping a coin in a fountain or well is just as much a water deposition practice as those that occurred in ancient times. Much like the nature of water itself, the deposition tradition is in a “process of transformation [that] never ceases: Water is always undergoing change, movement and progress” (Strang 2005:98). It is hypothesized that any long-standing traditional practice, not only European deposition, undergoes similar renovation and re-vitalization. Traditions are altered to suit the needs of each generation that inherits them. These subconscious but key changes are integral to the advancement of human culture and knowledge. Across prehistoric Europe, the deposition tradition was by no means annual or endemic, yet it was still an important aspect of the lives of the people.

Most of the research on water depositions in prehistoric Europe uses the term ‘wet’ or ‘water’ deposit. This terminology limits our understanding of the phenomenon by conglomerating the different contexts of rivers, lochs, bogs, wells, springs, etc. Thankfully, divisions within the term ‘water context’ are being re-analyzed for the better, and researchers of this topic are separating the distinctive types of waterscapes and attempting to identify patterns within these contexts in terms of the types of objects that
were placed into them (Bourke 1996; Yates and Bradley 2010).

The seas around the west coast of Scotland offer some of the most challenging and rewarding waters for sailors to be found anywhere in Britain. Some may say anywhere in the world. Whilst to a modern cruising yachtsman this may mean leisurely sailing from anchorage to anchorage, to sailors of the ancient past these seas were a highway. We can see this in the distribution of geologically identifiable material culture, such as Arran pitchstone artefacts in Orkney, Langdale axes in North Uist, and Antrim flint axes dredged from the seas off Islay. Further to this there is the spread of particular pottery, and monument styles demonstrating that Neolithic people travelled. Whilst the purpose of Neolithic journeying (which is itself a subject of debate) may be different from that of a modern cruising yachtsman, many of the challenges would have been the same. Knowledge of the weather, tides, navigational hazards, safe landing places and anchorages would all have been vital to a successful trip, just as they are today. With this in mind, I have approached this study not just as an archaeologist, but as a sailor. To this end, it seems appropriate to briefly detail my own knowledge and experience of boats and travelling at sea. I was, before academic study, a professionally qualified yacht skipper holding a Yachtmaster certificate with a commercial endorsement issued by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) in conjunction with the Department of Transport. I was also qualified to teach navigation and theory in a classroom setting up to the level of Yachtmaster. I was a senior instructor in dinghy sailing, a powerboat driving and safety boat driving instructor, and held an advanced powerboat certificate (again all issued by the RYA). I was also a level III sea kayak coach in the Welsh Canoeing Association, and for a brief time a member of the R.N.L.I. and longer ago, in the Royal Navy. I worked at sailing schools on the south coast of England and for the Outward Bound Trust in Wales, where as a senior instructor I specialised in sailing, and as such consider myself to have been a professional yachtsman. I have sailed and kayaked at sea in Britain and Ireland, as well as the Atlantic coast of Europe and Hong Kong, and as

This paper presents the results of a survey of promontory forts on the Solway Coast of Dumfries and Galloway. This work was carried out by the author primarily to determine the extent and nature of erosion affecting these sites. The surveying programme also attempted to determine morphological and topographical traits that might clarify aspects of the nature of occupation of the Galloway promontory forts. Sixteen sites were surveyed between 1996 and 1997. A further survey took place in 1999 and 2000 as part of the pilot ‘Shorewatch’ Scheme. The resulting site plans provide a baseline of data from which future assessments may measure the condition of these sites and develop appropriate research and conservation priorities.

Gabhaidh dùintean dìomhaireach fhaicinn air feadh na h-Eileanan an Iar, bho Dhùn Èistean faisg air Rubha Robhanais ann an Nis suas gu ruige Shròn an Dùin, Beàrnaraigh am Barraigh.  Tha an tràchdas seo a’ toirt sùil air dùintean Leòdhais agus ciamar a nochdas iad anns a’ bheul-aithris tron linn eachdraidheil.  Chithear na diofar seòrsan de dhùn ann an diofar suidheachaidhean - tùir-cruinne mòra faisg air a’ chladach leithid Dhùn Chàrlabhaigh, dùintean beaga air eileanan beaga le staran a’ dol thuca, eileanan daingnichte leithid Bhearasaigh agus stacan mara leithid Dhùn Èistean.  Leis a’ bhrosnachadh a fhuair e bhon artaigil ‘On the Duns of the Outer Hebrides’  le Caiptean F W L Thomas a chaidh fhoillseachadh ann an 1890, tha an tràchdas seo a’ sgrùdadh diofar dhùintean ann an Leòdhas - ma bhios sgeulachdan no traidiseanan eile a tha ceangailte riutha, dè seòrsa dàimh a tha ann eadar muinntir an sgìre agus an co-theagsa anns a’ bheil na dùintean cuide ri fianais-àrc-eòlais.

Iron Age Galloway is a bit of a conundrum, difficult to clearly differentiate from the Iron Age characteristics of other regions of Scotland but often treated as somewhat distinct nonetheless. The following paper attempts to make sense of the Iron Age settlement patterns of this region and examine if these are significantly distinguishable from those apparent across other regions of Scotland.

Alexander Henry Rhind (1833–63) was one of the earliest exponents of scientific techniques and methodology in archaeological excavations, but the last in-depth survey of his life and career in the field was published in the year after his death. He undertook fieldwork in Scotland before travelling to Egypt for health reasons. There, he applied for a permit to excavate and some of his subsequent acquisitions and finds are among the finest in the collections of the British Museum and National Museums Scotland. He advocated for proper recognition and protection of monuments, in Britain and abroad, and implemented publication standards and excavation and recording methods followed by others. He may be called the first educated archaeologist to work in Egypt and publish his finds, and he left bequests to ensure the continuation of his work and to assist the work of others, such as the establishment of the prestigious annual Rhind Lecture Series. Some of his Scottish fieldwork and publica...

Recent analysis of the axe-wielding and / or beast-headed human figures in Pictish sculpture suggests that they represent Pictish gods. Depictions of these Pictish deities are found on both early incised Pictish stones (Class I) and later relief-carved monuments (Class II, III), traversing the Conversion Period. How early is this tradition in Pictish art, and what was the function of a carved god on Class I monuments? On cross-slabs and later sculpture these figures are usually associated with otherworldly beasts. Although this mythical imagery is generally presented in a non-linear fashion, much of it is repetitive, suggesting that these gods and otherworldly beasts represented well-known mythological narratives in Pictish culture, and that this mythology continued to circulate in the oral culture of the Picts into the Christian period. How do the Pictish mythological narratives, as depicted in sculpture, compare with the mythological traditions of neighbouring cultures?

This paper explores the early evidence for pre-Christian religion and ritual in Pictland, comparing the contexts of Class I monuments with carved deities with the material culture of Iron Age Celtic and Romano-Celtic religious sites. Specific mythological motifs found on Christian Pictish sculpture are compared with examples from Celtic mythology and Indo-European mythology more generally. Such a comparison highlights extensive points of overlap between pre-Christian belief in Pictland and Indo-European mythology more broadly, and demonstrates the immense significance of the Pictish sculptural material in providing a means for reconstructing an otherwise lost belief system.

This paper discusses a group of modified human remains from Iron Age and Norse sites in Atlantic Scotland, several of which have been discovered or rediscovered over the past decade, and all of which have recently been radiocarbon dated. It investigates the ways in which these remains seem to have been recovered, used, modified and deposited by living communities, and what this may reveal about past attitudes towards the bodies of the dead. These practices are placed within a wider European later prehistoric and early historic context, to highlight how this group of evidence may add to current debates surrounding social memory, the ritualization of domestic life, and the place of the dead within the world of the living.

The northern and western isles of Scotland have proved fertile ground for archaeological investigation over the last 100 years. However, the nature of the landscape with its rugged coastlines and irregular topography, together with rapid peat growth rates, make for challenging surveying. Commonly, an archaeological monument or series of monuments is identified but little is known about the surrounding areas and, in particular, the palaeo-landscapes within which the monuments are located. This situation is exemplified by the standing stones of Calanais in Lewis. Here, surrounding peat bogs have buried a significant portion of the landscape around which the stones were first erected. This project identifies remote sensing geophysical techniques that are effective in mapping the buried (lost) landscape and thus aid better contextualisation of the stone monuments within it. Further, the project demonstrates the most appropriate techniques for prospecting across these buried landscapes f...

Islands and archipelagos have long fascinated humankind. Often viewed as bounded and isolated, given the right conditions and technology, their true nature may be far more complex. Such is case with the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, where a robust Neolithic archaeological record evidences varying degrees of movement that would have transcended not only a range of temporal and spatial scales but also environments. As movement itself leaves little archaeological trace, exploring the connectivity of these complex island communities requires innovative methodologies that can cope with the transience of movement as well as its different milieus. Using a least-cost approach, established for terrestrial movement and adapted to seafaring, a more holistic digital analysis was developed that allowed for movement to be modelled through both milieus and connected within the maritime landscape. Whilst the modelled pathways highlight the varying trajectories of Neolithic movement that would have occurred in response to a geographically and temporally constrained environment, they conversely reveal a strong continuity of practice and significance of place that together would have engendered complex patterns of mobility and social connectivity within the Outer Hebrides and beyond.

"Society for Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

The first call for papers is now open for the Society of Medieval Archaeology Student Colloquium, to be held at the University of Aberdeen, 7-8th November 2013. The event aims to provide a platform for postgraduates and early career professionals to present and discuss their current research. This year’s event will also incorporate a fieldtrip and keynote lectures by Professor Neil Price and Professor Stefan Brink.

Papers from across the medieval period (5th-16th centuries AD) from all geographical areas are welcomed. Papers from subjects other than archaeology but which have a broader medieval significance will also be considered.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to medieval.archaeology@googlemail.co.uk. The deadline for all paper abstract and poster submissions is Friday 6th September.



Please see the attached flyer or  visit http://www.medievalarchaeology.co.uk/index.php/events/conferences/sma-pg-colloquium-leaflet/  for more details."

Excavations at Carghidown demonstrate sporadic occupation of this promontory fort over a short period, during the late first millennium BC or early first millennium AD. The analysis of lead beads from this settlement adds support to growing evidence for copper mining in this area of Galloway at the time and suggests that the inhabitants were of some status within the local social hierarchy. The excavation also demonstrates that the site was only formally enclosed during the latter stages of its occupation and that within a year or two of this act of enclosure the ramparts were violently thrown down, the repair and construction of buildings within the settlement was abruptly halted and occupation ceased.

This single-authored book critically evaluates the concept of sacred heritage. Drawing on global perspectives from heritage studies, archaeology, museology, anthropology and architectural history, Gilchrist examines the multiple values of medieval Christian heritage. She investigates monastic archaeology through the lens of the material study of religion and reveals the sensory experience of religion through case studies including Glastonbury Abbey and Scottish monasticism. The work offers new insights into medieval identity and regional distinctiveness, healing and magic, and memory practices in the sacred landscape. It also reflects on the significance of medieval sacred landscapes as contested heritage sites which hold diverse meansings to contemporary groups.

A well-preserved burial, discovered during peat clearing on Langwell Farm in Strath Oykel, Easter Ross, consisted of a stone cist that held the skeleton of a woman who had died in 2200–1960 cal BC. Although the cist contents were disturbed and partly removed before archaeological investigation took place, the burial rite can be interpreted to some extent. The woman, who died in her late 20s, had been wrapped in brown cattle hide, and wooden and woven objects were placed with her body. Periodic waterlogging created conditions that allowed the rare, partial preservation of the organic materials. Analysis of bone histology indicated that decay of the human remains had been arrested, either by deliberate mummification or by waterlogging. The cist had been sent into a low knoll on the valley floor and it may have been covered with a low cairn or barrow. This spot had been the site of a fire several hundred years earlier, and it may have been a node on a cross-country route linking east and west coasts in the Early Bronze Age. The use of animal hide suggests the creation and use of particular identities, linking the dead to ancestors and to powerful spiritual properties attributed to the natural world. The work was carried out for Historic Scotland under the Human Remains Call-off Contract.

To read full article:
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_144/144_0065_0132.pdf

A series of archaeological evaluations and excavations at Laigh Newton in East Ayrshire revealed evidence for intermittent occupation of this valley terrace between the Mesolithic and the Late Iron Age. The plough-truncated archaeology included the remains of a rectangular building and associated features of the mid–late fourth millennium BC, a more ephemeral structure and related pits of the mid third millennium BC, a charcoal-burning pit of the mid–first millennium AD and two other rectilinear structures of indeterminate date.

Decoding the chapel's mysterious vaulted ceiling. Rosslyn has been called a "Bible in Stone" and the "Chapel of Codes." Its vaulted ceiling, hiding within its numerological symbolism both the first and last books of the Bible, shows that it is both. This paper discusses the builders' possible belief in a heliocentric solar system, establishes a plausible connection between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons, promotes the theory that the builder's grandfather made a voyage to the New World almost 100 years before Columbus, and questions whether 666 or 616 is the original Number of the Beast.

This paper presents two medieval lead-alloy badges
found at Fordham, Cambridgeshire, which are
identified by the authors as belonging to the cult
of St Margaret of Scotland. Detailed examination
of the badges situates them in time and space,
placing their production in the 13th century and
pinpointing Dunfermline, Queensferry or St
Andrews as possible centres of manufacture and
acquisition. The first badges to be attributed to this
saint, they are an important addition to the small
but ever-expanding corpus of pilgrim souvenirs
from Scotland. They provide rare glimpses into
the processes of design and manufacture of pilgrim
souvenirs and are evidence for the extra-regional
reach of St Margaret’s cult. Overall, this paper
demonstrates how much information can be
gleaned from objects such as these with careful
integration of complementary historical and
material sources.