Search Constraints
Search Results
-
Journal article
Reintroducing the Vikings into Scotland’s story
Dr Adrián Maldonado takes another look at the formation of Scotland, to ask whether we should recalibrate our image of the 'Vikings' to include more than just people of Norse decentMaldonado, Adrián
-
Journal article
An Iron Age burial with a polished stone disc from Baledgarno, Perth and Kinross
A polished stone disc which has long lurked in Dundee Museum’s collections is identified as a rare example associated with an Iron Age burial. This was an occasional but recurrent rite during the Roman Iron Age, with parallels further up the E coast as far as Shetland. Where the burial...Hunter, Fraser
-
Journal article
‘Where is the Ship Which From the Ceiling Hung?’ Ghost Ships: The ship models missing from Scotland’s churches
A recent survey of the surviving ship models in Scottish churches has identified an interesting chronological gap, an absence which has created the impression that ship models in Scotland’s churches are a nineteenth-century phenomenon. Existing older models from the seventeenth century have been dismissed as anomalies harking back to pre-Reformation...Greiling, Meredith
Shipmaster , Seafarer societies, ship models, Scottish churches, votive ships, and model-makers
-
Journal article
Searching for the first winged insects in Scotland
Ross, Andrew J
-
Journal article
Postcrania of Borealestes (Mammaliformes, Docodonta) and the emergence of ecomorphological diversity in early mammals
The Middle Jurassic witnessed the early diversification of mammal groups, including the stem-mammalian clade, Docodonta. Recent discoveries in China indicate docodontans exhibited ecomorphological diversity akin to small-bodied mammals living >100 million years later, in the Cenozoic. Our understanding of the emergence of this ecological diversity is hindered by a lack...Panciroli, Elsa ; Benson, Roger B J ; Fernandez, Vincent ; Humpage, Matthew ; Martín‐Serra, Alberto …
-
Journal article
Parasitic nematodes of the genus Syphacia Seurat, 1916 infecting Cricetidae in the British Isles: the enigmatic status of Syphacia nigeriana
Oxyurid nematodes ( spp.) from bank ( and field/common ( spp.) voles, from disparate geographical sites in the British Isles, were examined morphologically and genetically. The genetic signatures of 118 new isolates are provided, based primarily on the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) region and for representative isolates also on... -
Journal article
Dental Anomaly Causing Severe Maxillary Lesions in a Male Sowerby’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens Sowerby, 1804)
Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens) is a poorly known cetacean species, and much of our current information comes from stranded animals. Herein, we describe a dental anomaly in an adult male stranded in 2019 in the Moray Firth, Scotland. The mandibular teeth (tusks) had erupted so their tips converged towards...Plint, Tessa ; Hantke, Georg ; Schwarz, Tobias ; Kitchener, Andrew C
beaked whale, dental anomaly, maxillary lesions, Mesoplodon bidens, and pathology
-
Journal article
Jewellery and Covid-19
Over the last 18 months the pandemic has affected many areas of life, with society witnessing huge changes globally, and museums acquiring artefacts and works of art, design and crat that reflected and responded to the impact of covid-19. In my own organisation, the approach has focused on a range...Rothwell, Sarah
-
Journal article
The Caquetoire Chair in Scotland
Jackson, Stephen
-
Journal article
Bill measurements aid sub-specific identification of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Britain
Wing length has been used by researchers to separate the resident British subspecies of Great Spotted Woodpecker from migrants from Fennoscandia, though some degree of overlap exists with this character. In this study, specimens at National Museums of Scotland (NMS) show that bill shape aids subspecific identification, confirming that Fennoscandian...Dougall, T W ; McGowan, R Y
-
Journal article
Hugh’s printing protégé becomes his publisher. The story of Alexander Strachan or Strahan, publisher of The Life and Letters of Hugh Miller.
I am researching Hugh Miller’s unusual publishing arrangements, including the frequency with which his firm, Miller & Fairly, printed his books for their Edinburgh publishers before and after his death. The obvious exception is Peter Bayne’s family-approved The Life and Letters of Hugh Miller (1871), printed in London for Strahan...Taylor, Michael A
-
Journal article
Dating the publication of Hugh Miller’s The testimony of the rocks (1857)
Assessing the precise publication dates of nineteenth-century books is difficult. Common problems include inadequate, inaccurate and confusing title-page information, and misleading advertisements. It is better to use multiple lines of evidence rather than a single source. The first Scottish and English edition of The testimony of the rocks, by Hugh...Taylor, Michael A ; O’Connor, R ; Overstreet, L K
-
Journal article
The unusual printing and publishing arrangements of Hugh Miller (1802–1856)
John Johnstone was an Edinburgh printer and publisher, from 1849 in partnership with Robert Hunter. In 1839, Johnstone and the printer Robert Fairly established a separate firm, Johnstone & Fairly, to publish the Witness, a newspaper edited by the geologist Hugh Miller. The firm became Miller & Fairly in 1844...Taylor, Michael A
-
Journal article
Professor John Morton Coles
Professor John Coles, who died on 14 October 2020 aged 90, had a long and distinguished career as a prehistorian, experimental archaeologist and wetland archaeologist, and he made substantial contributions to Scottish archaeology, as well as to European and world archaeology more generally.Sheridan, Alison
-
Journal article
A survey of Roman, medieval and post-medieval coin finds from Scotland 2011–15
Coins from 235 locations across Scotland are listed and discussed.Savage, Carl E ; Freeman, Emily A ; Paul, Ella B
Archaeology, Medieval, Numismatics, Coins, Post medieval, and Roman
-
Journal article
Angela Milner (1947–2021)
Far-sighted palaeontologist who guided the Dinosaur Gallery at London’s Natural History Museum, with interests in dinosaurs, early tetrapods and palaeoneurology.Walsh, Stig
-
Journal article
Two species of Lonchaeidae (Diptera) new to the British Isles and further records of the family in Scotland
Two species of Lonchaeidae, Dasiops facialis Collin, 1953 and Lonchaea angelina MacGowan, 2014, are added to the British fauna based on specimens captured in a Malaise trap in Lochaber, Highland. The taxonomic history and geographical range of these species are discussed and comparisons are made between them and other British...MacGowan, Iain ; Strachan, Ian M
-
-
Journal article
Luffia lapidella (Goeze, 1783) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) proved to be the host of Choeras gielisi van Achterberg (Braconidae: Microgastrinae), new to Britain
Choeras gielisi is recorded from Britain for the first time, on the basis of two female and two male specimens reared solitarily from sexual and parthenogenetic forms of the Luffia lapidella at different sites. These rearings, the first with clear host detemination, provide strong evidence that the type specimen of...Shaw, Mark R
-
Journal article
Capturing decorative art - the work of Frances Priest
Within this article I hope to highlight and explore the progression of the practice of Edinburgh-based ceramic artist, Frances Priest, through works held by National Museums Scotland, and her most recent public commission for the city's Royal Edinburgh Hospital. I shall discuss her enduring passion for The Grammar of Ornament,...Rothwell, Sarah
-
Newspaper article
Climate change: The answers to our greener future might just lie in the past
Climate change information is everywhere: billionaires write books about it, and social media is aflame. A bewildering array of data and opinions assault us from all sides, but as a science curator, my favourite place to learn about our environment is in museums.Alberti, Samuel J M M
Edinburgh, Scotland, and Climate Change
-
Journal article
Iona in the Viking Age: laying a ‘zombie narrative’ to rest
The traditional story of Iona’s early medieval monastery ends in tragedy and bloodshed, with the religious community wiped out by vicious Viking raiders. Increasingly, though, the archaeological and historical evidence does not support this persistent narrative, as Adrián Maldonado, Ewan Campbell, Thomas Owen Clancy, and Katherine Forsyth report.Maldonado, Adrián ; Campbell, Ewan ; Thomas Owen, Clancy ; Forsyth, Katherine
-
Journal article
Quaichs: From monarchy to miners, and marriage too
McGill, Lyndsay
-
Journal article
‘Cannel coal bangle’ , In McGalliard, S, & Wilson, D 2021 Bronze Age and Iron Age Archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire: An Investigation of Structures and Funerary Practices
Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by Axiom Project Services to undertake an archaeological excavation in advance of a commercial development at Thainstone Business Park, Aberdeenshire. Excavation identified the remains of a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse and a contemporary urned cremation cemetery. Evidence of Late Bronze Age cremation practices was...Hunter, Fraser
Cemetery, Structure, Souterrain, Settlement, Roundhouse, Bronze Age, Cremation, Urn, and Iron Age
-
Journal article
‘Pottery’, In McGalliard, S, & Wilson, D 2021 Bronze Age and Iron Age Archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire: An Investigation of Structures and Funerary Practices
Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by Axiom Project Services to undertake an archaeological excavation in advance of a commercial development at Thainstone Business Park, Aberdeenshire. Excavation identified the remains of a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse and a contemporary urned cremation cemetery. Evidence of Late Bronze Age cremation practices was...Cruickshanks, Gemma
Urn, Structure, Souterrain, Settlement, Iron Age, Bronze Age, Cremation, Cemetery, and Roundhouse
-
Journal article
‘Stone tools’, In McGalliard, S, & Wilson, D 2021 Bronze Age and Iron Age Archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire: An Investigation of Structures and Funerary Practices
Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by Axiom Project Services to undertake an archaeological excavation in advance of a commercial development at Thainstone Business Park, Aberdeenshire. Excavation identified the remains of a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse and a contemporary urned cremation cemetery. Evidence of Late Bronze Age cremation practices was...Cruickshanks, Gemma
Urn, Structure, Souterrain, Settlement, Iron Age, Bronze Age, Cremation, Cemetery, and Roundhouse
-
Journal article
‘Ironworking’, In McGalliard, S, & Wilson, D 2021 Bronze Age and Iron Age Archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire: An Investigation of Structures and Funerary Practices
Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by Axiom Project Services to undertake an archaeological excavation in advance of a commercial development at Thainstone Business Park, Aberdeenshire. Excavation identified the remains of a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse and a contemporary urned cremation cemetery. Evidence of Late Bronze Age cremation practices was...Cruickshanks, Gemma
Urn, Structure, Souterrain, Settlement, Iron Age, Bronze Age, Cremation, Cemetery, and Roundhouse
-
Journal article
On the synonymy of Pseudagrion bidentatum Morton, 1907, with P. hypermelas Selys, 1876
No new information on Pseudagrion bidentatum has been published since its original description by Morton in 1907 based on a single male from western India. Although this species was already regarded as a synonym of either P. hypermelas Selys, 1876, or P. spencei Fraser, 1922, by Fraser in 1933 it...Kalkman, Vincent J ; Blagoderov, Vladimir
-
Journal article
Inspiring Walter Scott
David Forsyth and Dr Anna Groundwater take us on a tour of a new display at National Museum of Scotland that brings together two of his greatest passions - and speak to us of his literary inspirationForsyth, David ; Groundwater, Anna
-
Journal article
The Cold War in European museums – filling the ‘empty battlefield’
Recent historical research has analysed the Cold War as an ‘imaginary war’, an interpretation that poses specific challenges for displaying the conflict in museums. In contrast to well-established representations of the First and Second World Wars in exhibitions, we find that the nature of the Cold War in Europe and...Alberti, Samuel J M M ; Nehring, Holger
-
Journal article
On the use of genome-wide data to model and date the time of anthropogenic hybridisation: An example from the Scottish wildcat
While hybridisation has long been recognised as an important natural phenomenon in evolution, the conservation of taxa subject to introgressive hybridisation from domesticated forms is a subject of intense debate. Hybridisation of Scottish wildcats and domestic cats is a good example in this regard. Here, we developed a modelling framework...Howard-McCombe, Jo ; Ward, Daniel ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Lawson, Daniel ; Senn, Helen V …
-
Journal article
Exhibition Review: Mary Quant, Curated by Jenny Lister and Stephanie Wood for The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London, England and V&A Dundee, Scotland, 27 August 2020–24 December 2020
Curated by Jenny Lister and Stephanie Wood for The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) London, England and Dundee, Scotland. Reviewed by Georgina RipleyRipley, Georgina
-
Journal article
Identification of an early Order of the Thistle badge
McGill, Lyndsay
-
Journal article
'The faience beads' In: T. Woolhouse, A 'persistent place': late Mesolithic flint working, Early Bronze Age burials, Iron Ages settlement and a Roman farmstead at The Street, Easton
Excavations adjacent to The Street, Easton found evidence for human activity spanning some seven millennia, from the Late Mesolithic (c.6500–4000 BC) to the end of the Romano-British period, with probably continuous occupation on or near the site for at least a thousand years between the Early Iron Age (c.800–600 BC)...Sheridan, J A
-
Journal article
Poolewe: The last Bronze Age hoard in Scotland?
In 1877, a hoard of nine copper alloy objects was recovered from a peat bog at Poolewe, Scotland, including axeheads, rings and an ornament. For the first time since its discovery, this article publishes the hoard in its entirety, including an assessment of typological features, full illustration and metallurgical analysis....Knight, Matthew G ; Boughton, Dot ; Northover, J Peter
-
Journal article
First and most northern occurrence of a thalattosuchian crocodylomorph from the Jurassic of the Isle of Skye, Scotland
The Jurassic was a key interval for the evolution of dinosaurs, crocodylomorphs and many other vertebrate groups. In recent years, new vertebrate fossils have emerged from the Early–Middle Jurassic of the Isle of Skye, Scotland; however, much more is known about Skye's dinosaur fauna than its crocodylomorphs. Here we report...Kean, Kim J ; Foffa , Davide ; Johnston, Michela M ; Young, Mark T ; Greitens, Gert …
-
Journal article
New species of mammaliaform and the cranium of Borealestes (Mammaliformes: Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of the British Isles
Docodonta are one of the earliest diverging groups of mammaliaforms, and their morphology provides key information on the transition between non-mammalian cynodonts and Mammalia. We describe the partial skulls of two docodontans Borealestes serendipitus and Borealestes cuillinensis sp. nov. from the Kilmaluag Formation (Middle Jurassic: Bathonian), Isle of Skye, Scotland....Panciroli, Elsa ; Benson, Roger B J ; Fernandez, Vincent ; Butler, Richard J ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
mammals, Scotland, Jurassic, Bathonian, Mesozoic, and Isle of Skye
-
Journal article
Observations on co-existing late-instar caterpillars of the Orange-tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)
Co-existence between late instar larvae of Anthocharis cardamines on multiple occupied Lunaria annua plants was monitored in a suburban Edinburgh garden and a stand-off between final instar larvae on Sisymbrium officinale in countryside near Leipzig was recorded photographically. Occupation of mauve-flowered Lunaria plants was significantly higher than white-flowered ones. The...Shaw, Mark R ; Otto, Helene
behaviour, camouflage, Vespula vulgaris, choice, Conflict, predation, and flower colour
-
Journal article
Review of: Trevor Royle, Facing the Bear: Scotland and the Cold War
In 1964 Alexander MacIntyre of Strone designed a tartan for the personnel of the American Submarine base at the Holy Loch. The tartan is registered as ‘Polaris Military’ after the infamous nuclear missile carried by the US Navy's ballistic missile submarines, and includes navy blue to represent the naval uniform,...Alberti, S J M M
-
Journal article
‘Tuesday Morning’, the schoolboy and Mann early medieval burials at Holm Park near Ballantrae, Ayrshire, Scotland
The rediscovery of human remains, correspondence and other unpublished excavation archival material in the Glasgow Museums collection of Ludovic McLellan Mann prompted the reappraisal of a short archaeological investigation undertaken in April 1931 at Holm Park, near Ballantrae, Ayrshire, by a schoolboy, Eric French and his biology teacher, William Hoyland....Finlay , Nyree ; Duffy , Paul ; Dene, Wright ; Maldonado, Adrián ; Cerón-Carrasco, Ruby
Inhumation burial, Mesolithic, Dog whelk shells, and Historiography
-
Journal article
Torwood Broch: the reassessment of a Complex Atlantic Roundhouse near Falkirk
This paper presents the first modern account of Torwood’s artefact assemblage and the most accurate survey of the site to date. These are combined with the results of a small-scale excavation on a newly discovered outer rampart and the publication for the first time of a reused concentric ring-marked stone... -
Journal article
Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, and the Great Storm of 1824
During the Great Storm of 1824, the house and fossil shop of Mary Anning (1799-1847), fossil collector of Lyme Regis, in Cockmoil Square, was supposedly flooded. The popular but physically unlikely story is probably based on misreading Anning's report of flooding in her brother Joseph's premises, and copying a tale...Taylor, Michael A
-
Journal article
A decorated carved stone ball and associated lithic scatter from the Blackford Estate, Sheriffmuir, Perthshire
A comparatively small number of carved stone balls have precise findspots and exceptionally few have been recovered from secure archaeological contexts. The discovery of a carved stone ball in pristine condition at Sheriffmuir during tree-planting in 2017 provided the opportunity to examine an accurate findspot and explore its archaeological and...Anderson-Whymark, Hugo ; Hall, Mark
later Neolithic, carved stone ball , lithic scatter , and pitchstone
-
Journal article
Stress fields of ancient seismicity recorded in the dynamic geometry of pseudotachylyte in the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone, UK
Heterogeneous sequences of exhumed fault rocks preserve a record of the long-term evolution of fault strength and deformation behaviour during prolonged tectonic activity. Along the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone (OHFZ) in NW Scotland, numerous pseudotachylytes record palaeoseismic slip events within sequences of mylonites, cataclasites and phyllonites. To date, the kinematics...Campbell, L R ; Lloyd, G E ; Phillips, R J ; Walcott, Rachel ; Holdsworth, R E
-
-
Journal article
Genetic structure in Orkney island mice: isolation promotes morphological diversification
Following human occupation, the house mouse has colonised numerous islands, exposing the species to a wide variety of environments. Such a colonisation process, involving successive founder events and bottlenecks, may either promote random evolution or facilitate adaptation, making the relative importance of adaptive and stochastic processes in insular evolution difficult...Chevret, Pascale ; Hautier, Lionel ; Ganem, Guila ; Herman, Jeremy S ; Agret, Sylvie …
-
Journal article
The Graham Gadd collection of furniture ephemera
National Museums Scotland recently received a donation of furniture related items from RFS member Graham Gadd.Jackson, Stephen
-
Journal article
Norman Dott (1897–1973) and medical illustration: the importance of art to neurosurgery
Anatomical information and pathologies have been conveyed through the medium of medical illustrations for centuries. In the formative years of British neurosurgery, Professor Norman Dott (1897–1973) utilised medical illustrations as a means of documenting neurosurgical advances and conveying pathological-anatomical correlation. He commissioned a vast number of medical illustrations over the... -
Journal article
Collecting COVID-19 at National Museums Scotland
This opinion piece discusses National Museums Scotland’s first responses to collecting COVID-19. Drawing on perspectives from social history, biomedical science and military history, this short paper contextualizes COVID-related collecting within the contexts of the organization’s programme of contemporary collecting and the nation’s ongoing socio-political journey.Laurenson, Sarah ; Robertson, Calum ; Goggins, Sophie
Scotland, Contemporary collecting, social history, military history, and medical history
-
Journal article
Dryleys Pottery, Montrose
While cataloguing pottery from a private collection for an exhibition in the City of Edinburgh Museum, I realised just how little was known about a yellow galzed moulded jug marked "D Crowe/Montrose". I therefore decided to research the pottery and its wares.Haggarty, George R
-
Journal article
Carlisle Museum's Natural History Record Bureau, 1902–1912: Britain's first local environmental records centre
Carlisle Museum's Natural History Record Bureau, Britain's first local environmental records centre, collected and collated records, mainly of birds but including also mammals and fishes, from amateur naturalists. It initially covered an area of 80 kilometres around Carlisle, and later from Cumberland, Westmorland and the detached portion of Lancashire north... -
Journal article
Iron, glass and stone finds In: Hatherley, Candy, Jeremy Evans, Martin Goldberg, Kay Hartley, Mhairi Hastie, Nicholas McQ Holmes, Fraser Hunter, Julie Lochrie, Gwladys Monteil, Effie Photos-Jones, Scott Timpany, David Williams, and Steven Willis. 2020. “Doune Roman Fort, Stirlingshire: Excavations in 1999, 2008 and 2010”
Three archaeological excavations were undertaken by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd within the grounds of Doune Primary School in Stirlingshire, each located on the site of Doune Roman fort. These excavations revealed sections through triple-ditched defences, elements of the turf rampart and the perimeter road (via sagularis) on both the west...Goldberg, D Martin ; Hunter, Fraser ; Lochrie, Julie
Flavian, Barracks, Scotland, Ovens, Denarii, Metal-working furnace, Fort, Doune, Stirlingshire, and Roman
-
Journal article
'The metalwork' In: Hatherley, Candy, Jeremy Evans, Martin Goldberg, Kay Hartley, Mhairi Hastie, Nicholas McQ Holmes, Fraser Hunter, Julie Lochrie, Gwladys Monteil, Effie Photos-Jones, Scott Timpany, David Williams, and Steven Willis. 2020. “Doune Roman Fort, Stirlingshire: Excavations in 1999, 2008 and 2010”
Three archaeological excavations were undertaken by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd within the grounds of Doune Primary School in Stirlingshire, each located on the site of Doune Roman fort. These excavations revealed sections through triple-ditched defences, elements of the turf rampart and the perimeter road (via sagularis) on both the west...Holmes, Nicholas M McQ. ; Hunter, Fraser ; Lochrie, Julie
Flavian, Barracks, Scotland, Ovens, Denarii, Metal-working furnace, Fort, Doune, Stirlingshire, and Roman
-
Journal article
A Scottish stoneware jug
In 2001 National Museums Scotland (NMS) acquired an elaborately decorated but unmarked stoneware jug, which was tentatively linked to Newbigging Pottery in Musselburgh. Over the last year exhibition research has shed light on documentary evidemce, linking the jug to the pottery at Newbigging.Hynes, Adrienne
-
Journal article
Tongland works in Galloway and the women engineers
In 1916, a factory was established by William Beardmore and Thomas Pullinger at Tongland in south-west Scotland that was for much of the time that it was in operation staffed by women. Initially manufacturing aero engines, the women were being trained for a career in engineering, not simply as war...Innes, Louise
Women engineers, Pullinger, aero engines, Tongland, Galloway cars, and factory
-
Journal article
The Tod Head lighthouse lantern. The conservation-restoration of a technical object that has been continuously modified over the years
This paper presents the conservation and reassembly of the Tod Head lighthouse lantern in the storage area of the National Museums Scotland. The Tod Head lighthouse was located on the Scottish east coast, north of Edinburgh. The lantern was dismantled in 2011 and sent to the National Museums Collection Centre....Grima, Marie
lighthouse, Fresnel, lantern, and Stevenson
-
Journal article
Collecting and displaying the decommissioning of North Sea Oil and Gas at the National Museums Scotland
National Museums Scotland (NMS) has a long history of collecting industrial objects. Our predecessor museum, the Industrial Museum of Scotland, was founded with the intention of collecting the materials and processes of manufacture; that is, contemporary technologies and the tacit skills that went with them [1]. For a lot of...Swinbank, Ellie
museum, Scotland, decommissioning, industry, collection, and oil
-
Journal article
First record of True’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon mirus, in Britain
A female beaked whale, Family Ziphiidae, was reported as stranded on 29th January 2020 at Kearvaig Bay, Sutherland, Scotland. Examination of its skull confirms that this is the first recorded stranding of True’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon mirus, in Britain.Kitchener, Andrew C ; Georg , Hantke ; Herman, Jeremy S ; ten Doeschate, Mariel ; Brownlow, Andrew C
skull, stranding, Ziphiidae, Mesoplodon mirusy, and pathology
-
Journal article
A new Jerusalem ‘at the ends of the earth’: Interpretating Charles Thomas’s Excavations at Iona Abbey 1956–63
Iona was a major European intellectual and artistic centre during the seventh to ninth centuries, with outstanding illustrated manuscripts, sculpture and religious writings produced there, despite its apparently peripheral location ‘at the ends of the earth’. Recent theological discourse has emphasised the leading role of Iona, and particularly its ninth...Campbell, Ewan ; Maldonado, Adrián
early monasticism , Charles Thomas, Christianity , archaeology , ecclesiastical studies , and coenobitic monastery
-
Journal article
The Excavation of Neolithic Pits and a Bronze Age Burial Site at Ness Gap, Fortrose
An investigation by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd took place in early 2013 in advance of a housing development at Ness Gap, Fortrose, Highland. The excavation revealed domestic activity dating from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. A cluster of Neolithic pits provided insights into the development of agriculture in...Woodley, Nuala C ; Lochrie, Julie ; Sheridan, J A ; Cowie, Trevor ; Christie, Claire
cremation, pits, metalwork , Burial, cinerary urn, cordoned urn, faience, and cist
-
Journal article
A rediscovered Lower Jurassic ichthyosaur skeleton possibly from the Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte, Somerset, UK
An almost complete ichthyosaur from the historically significant collection of fossils amassed by Somerset geologist, Charles Moore, is described. Available information suggests that it was collected from the Lower Lias of Somerset, UK. However, inspection of the surrounding matrix, which seems to be a nodule, indicates that the specimen may...Srdic, Alexander ; Beardmore, Susan ; Lomax, Dean R
Ichthyosauria, Charles Moore, Strawberry Bank, CT-scan, Stenopterygius, and Leptonectes
-
Journal article
Skull morphology diverges between urban and rural populations of red foxes mirroring patterns of domestication and macroevolution
Human activity is drastically altering the habitat use of natural populations. This has been documented as a driver of phenotypic divergence in a number of wild animal populations. Here, we show that urban and rural populations of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from London and surrounding boroughs are divergent in skull...Parsons, K J ; Rigg, Anders ; Conith, A J ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Harris, S …
Canidae , domestication, developmental bias , contemporary evolution, morphometrics, and urban ecology
-
Journal article
First dinosaur from the Isle of Eigg (Valtos Sandstone Formation, Middle Jurassic), Scotland
Dinosaur body fossil material is rare in Scotland, previously known almost exclusively from the Great Estuarine Group on the Isle of Skye. We report the first unequivocal dinosaur fossil from the Isle of Eigg, belonging to a Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) taxon of uncertain affinity. The limb bone NMS G.2020.10.1 is...Panciroli, Elsa ; Funston, Gregory F ; Holwerda, Femke ; Maidment, Susannah C R ; Foffa, Davide …
Theropoda, histology, Bathonian , Sauropoda, Great Estuarine Group, and Thyreophora
-
Journal article
My task - “Capturing” Miller’s legacy
This article is slightly adapted from a blog originally posted on the National Museum of Scotland website in October 2019. The Miller collection will be included in a tour of the Granton treasures given by NMS staff on 19th June as one of the prizes for winners of the latest...Donaldson, Sherri
-
Journal article
Investigating the Traprain Law Roman treasure
National Museums Scotland has one of the most important late Roman treasures in Europe, the Traprain Treasure, found in 1919 on Traprain Law, East Lothian, a hill top some 20 miles east of Edinburgh. The treasure is the largest and most important hoard of late Roman silver from beyond the...Tate, Jim ; Troalen, Lore
-
Journal article
The early evolution of the tappit hen
The recent discovery of three pewter tappit hen measures from the excavation of a ship sunk off Mull in 1653 has enabled us to deduce something of the origins of this eponymous Scottish measure. They are of Scots pint, chopin and half-mutchkin capacity, and they display several hitherto unrecognised features....Davies, Peter ; Dalgleish, George ; Lamb, David
-
Journal article
Population fragmentation leads to morpho-functional variation in British red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris)
It is well-known that population fragmentation and isolation can lead to rapid morphological and functional divergence, with the effect being particularly well-documented in rodents. Here, we investigated whether such a phenomenon could be identified in the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), which was once widespread across the majority of Great...Cox, Philip G ; Morris, Philip J R ; Kitchener, Andrew C
Morphological evolution, masticatory biomechanics, Sciuridae, geometric morphometrics, and mechanical advantage
-
Journal article
Post-medieval settlement in the Isle of Lewis: a study in adaptability or change?
The work of historical geographers has produced a rich literature concerning medieval and later rural settlement in Scotland. This work has frequently been used in an uncritical manner by archaeologists studying this period, often to the exclusion of developing a suitable theoretical and methodological basis for archaeological research. These models...Campbell, Stuart
-
Journal article
West Pans: excavations at a ceramic production site in Musselburgh, East Lothian
Excavations were undertaken in 1981 and 1990–1 at the site of the 18th-/19th-century ceramics manufacturing complex of West Pans, near Musselburgh. The foundations of several structures were uncovered although many proved impossible to interpret or date. Several puddling pits, most of them quite small, were identified, as was part of...Lewis, John ; Cobo del Arco, Belen ; Eremin, Katherine ; Forbes, Shiela ; Gallagher, Denis …
kiln, ceramics, William Littler, and puddling pits
-
Journal article
Ceramic traditions - the evidence from clay sampling at two late prehistoric sites: Birnie (Moray) and Traprain Law (East Lothian), Scotland
Clay sampling in archaeological studies has predominantly been used to answer questions of the provenance of ceramic materials, but recent literature has increasingly focused on further issues concerning material choices and selection (e.g. Martineau et al. 2007). These studies have often highlighted social mechanisms behind the selection of clays and...Sahlén , Daniel
-
Journal article
Mesolithic and Early Neolithic activity along the Dee: excavations at Garthdee Road, Aberdeen
Excavation on a gravel ridge beside the River Dee in Aberdeen revealed a small ovoid building of early Neolithic date. Not only does this add to the very small corpus of early Neolithic buildings yet excavated in Scotland, but the survival of floors and hearths also allows some analysis of...Murray, Hilary ; Murray, J Frances ; Ballin, Torben ; Cook, Gordon ; Cramp, Lucy …
radiocarbon dating , Early Neolithic buildings, and timber halls
-
Journal article
Museum during a crisis
These are strange times. As I write this (16th March 2020), the number of coronavirus or rather Covid-19 infections is rapidly increasing and I am uncertain whether our Museum, the National Museum of Scotland (NMoS), will even be open to the public this time next week. This 160 year old...Walcott, Rachel
Coronavirus, National Museums Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, and Covid-19
-
Journal article
Diets of European polecat Mustela putorius in Great Britain during fifty years of population recovery
Following nineteenth-century declines, polecats Mustela putorius are recolonising Great Britain. Polecat diet relates to two potential risks to recovery. First, rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, which are important prey for polecats, have experienced extreme population fluctuations, with near extirpation due to myxomatosis in the 1950s, recovery in 1960s–1990s and declines in 1990s–2010s....Sainsbury, Katherine A ; Shore, Richard F ; Schofield, Henry ; Croose, Elizabeth ; Hantke, Georg …
Polecat, Diet, Species recovery, Rabbits, and Mustela putorius
-
Journal article
Novel track morphotypes from new tracksites indicate increased Middle Jurassic dinosaur diversity on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
Dinosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic are rare globally, but the Isle of Skye (Scotland, UK) preserves a varied dinosaur record of abundant trace fossils and rare body fossils from this time. Here we describe two new tracksites from Rubha nam Brathairean (Brothers’ Point) near where the first dinosaur footprint...dePolo, Paige E ; Brusatte, Stephen L ; Challands, Thomas J ; Foffa, Davide ; Wilkinson, Mark …
Theropoda, Jurassic period, Shale, Limestone, Sediment, Hip, Dinosaurs, and Toes
-
Journal article
Scottish East Coast Transfer Printed Wares
In this paper I will use both extant examples and shards recovered archaeologically to highlight what evidence we have, for production of transfer printed wares, by the potteries situated between Portobello and PrestonpansHaggarty, George R
-
Journal article
Italian pottery in Scotland
John Hurst, in his seminal paper on Italian pottery imported into Britain and Ireland, stated that ‘pottery datable between the thirteenth and twentieth centuries, has been found on over one hundred sites in Britain and Ireland but did not reach Scotland' (Hurst 1991, 212). In an attempt to up-date the...Haggarty, George R
-
Journal article
Applying genomic data in wildlife monitoring: Development guidelines for genotyping degraded samples with reduced single nucleotide polymorphism panels
The genomic era has led to an unprecedented increase in the availability of genome‐wide data for a broad range of taxa. Wildlife management strives to make use of these vast resources to enable refined genetic assessments that enhance biodiversity conservation. However, as new genomic platforms emerge, problems remain in adapting...von Thaden, Alina ; Nowak , Carsten ; Tiesmeyer, Annika ; Reiners, Tobias E ; Lyons, Leslie A …
-
Journal article
Range-wide patterns of human-mediated hybridisation in European wildcats
Hybridisation between wild taxa and their domestic congeners is a significant conservation issue. Domestic species frequently outnumber their wild relatives in population size and distribution and may therefore genetically swamp the native species. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris) has been shown to hybridise with domestic cats (Felis catus). Previously suggested...Tiesmeyer, Annika ; Ramos, Luana ; Lucas, José Manuel ; Steyer, Katharina ; Alves, Paulo C …
-
Journal article
The Spearhead of the Pennon …
In 1999, the late Professor Charles Thomas donated a Middle Bronze Age spearhead to the National Museum collection. This spearhead came with a label indicating that it was part of the pennant taken into the Battle of Flodden by Robert Chisholme in 1513. This paper investigates the likelihood that such...Knight, Matthew G ; Sheridan, J A
-
Journal article
Special issue: Shaping Scientific Instrument Collections
There is an extensive literature on the history of what we now term scientific instruments. As a result, we know a great deal about how devices such as telescopes, clocks and astrolabes were made and used, especially those dating from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Many of these artefacts...Alberti, S J M M