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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 …
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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 …
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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
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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
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Journal article
Taxonomy and evolution of the protomonaxonid sponge family Piraniidae
The protomonaxonid sponge Pirania is an iconic member of the Burgess Shale community, but recent discoveries show that piraniids are morphologically diverse and also occur in Ordovician strata. Here we establish three new piraniid genera on the basis of Ordovician material from China, Wales, Scotland and Morocco: Auraeopirania gen. nov.,...Botting, Joseph P ; Stewart, Sarah E ; Muir, Lucy A
Sweden, Furongian, Sphenothallus, Cambrian, Alum Shale Formation, and Västergötland
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Journal article
Glacial cycles drive rapid divergence of cryptic field vole species
Understanding the factors that contribute to the generation of reproductively isolated forms is a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. Cryptic species are an especially interesting challenge to study in this context since they lack obvious morphological differentiation that provides clues to adaptive divergence that may drive reproductive isolation. Geographical isolation... -
Journal article
Going to pieces: investigating the deliberate destruction of Late Bronze Age swords and spearheads
The deliberate destruction of Late Bronze Age swords and spearheads has been widely recognised across Europe. This observation has typically relied on the obvious nature of the destruction, such as the bending of blades or the crushing of sockets, and the association of multiple broken pieces. These obvious acts have...Knight, Matthew G
Bronze Age metalwork, spearheads, experimental archaeology, Fragmentation, and swords
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Journal article
Life's rich tapestries
In its 400th anniversary year, Helen Wyld explores the short and turbulent history of the Mortlake tapestry works, arguably the greatest State-sponsored manufactory Britain has ever known.Wyld, Helen
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Journal article
Rethinking the Dark Age: the multiple voices of early medieval Britain
What do you picture when you think of the Dark Age. The common perception the phrase conjures is simple living and hardship. However, the sheer number of inscribed objects from this period paint another picture. Through new research methods, we are uncovering the multiple voices of early medieval Britain and...Maldonado, Adrián
literacy, Archaeology, Vikings, Symbols, Research Project, St Ninian's Isle Treasure, Glenmorangie, and Picts
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Journal article
Projecting the Museum: moving images in, and of, Scotland's national museum
The century-long engagement of museums with the moving image is examined through a case study of its deployment by National Museums Scotland (inclusive of its predecessor organisations the Royal Scottish Museum and the Royal Museum of Scotland). The study engages the academic genres of film studies and museum studies to...Swinney, Geoffrey N
Cinema, television, video, film, Royal Scottish Museum, National Museums Scotland, and historical geography
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Journal article
Overwintering behaviour of Diphyus quadripunctorius (Müller) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae) in south-east Scotland
Overwintering behaviour of adult females of the ichneumonid Diphyus quadripunctorius (Müller) in caves and mines in south east Scotland was monitored over two successive winters. This is a univoltine larva-pupal parasitoid of certain Noctua species, parasitizing their larvae in spring. The species was found in rather few of the sites...Baird, Katty ; Shaw, Mark R
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Journal article
A second British specimen of Coleocentrus Excivator (Poda) (Hymenoptera:Ichneumonidae, Acaenitinae) from Scotland
A second British specimen of the spectacular ichneumonid. Coleocentrus Excivator is recorded from Tomich, Inverness-shire, some 80 km NNW from the site at which the first was found 34 years previously. The species is illustrated and notes are given to facilitate identification. Some indications of host and biology are tentatively...Shaw, Mark R ; Lyszkowski, Richard M
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Journal article
A 4.1.1 Coin. In: Roy, M 'Matter of Life and Death' Trade and Burial around St Giles' Cathedral: Archaeological Investigations at Parliament House, Edinburgh'
Archaeological evaluation of the Southern Courtyard of the Parliament House complex, to the south of St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh’s Old Town, has provided a valuable insight into the lives, health and mortality of the inhabitants of the late medieval city. The evaluation revealed a backland area in the centre...Holmes, Nicholas
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Journal article
Two recent Bronze Age finds in Torquay Museum and their place in South West England
Two pieces of Bronze Age metalwork have recently ben acquired by Torquay Museum: an Early Bronze Age axe and a Middle Bronze Age rapier. Both were found in the Broadsands area, Paignton. The form, function and a rol.e of the objects are analysed, and the landscape context in which they...Knight, Matthew G ; Chandler, Barry
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Journal article
Pottery. In: Black, S. 'Pathfoot: the lost village of shoemakers'
During July and August 2016, Northlight Heritage undertook archaeological works on behalf of Cala Homes (West) Ltd. In response to a planning condition by Stirling Council, in advance of a housing development at Sheriffmuir Road, Bridge of Allan, It was thought the site could lie on or near the former...Haggarty, George
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Journal article
A laboratory for multi-century science
Charles Cockell and colleagues consider what it takes to establish and maintain an experiment that lasts for decades – or even for centuries.Cockell, Charles S ; Santomartino, Rosa ; McMahon, Sean ; Reekie, Philippe ; Alberti, S J M M …
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Journal article
Kinneddar: a major ecclesiastical centre of the Picts
The early Christian sculpture from Kinneddar has long been noted as a major assemblage. New survey work by the University of Aberdeen and AOC Archaeology has identified a large vallum enclosure around the site that was renewed on at least one occasion. The vallum enclosures surrounded an area of up...Noble, Gordon ; Cruickshanks, Gemma ; Dunbar, L ; Evans, N ; Hall, Derek …
Early Christian, Sculpture, Pictish, Early medieval, Church, and vallum
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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 ; Cowie, Trevor
Spearhead, Heirloom, Battle of Flodden, Bronze Age, and Chisholme
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Journal article
Neolithic pits and Late Bronze Age roundhouses in the Upper Ury Valley, Aberdeenshire
Archaeological monitoring of works on a gas pipeline route in Aberdeenshire, north-west of Inverurie, resulted in the discovery and excavation of several groups of Neolithic pits and four Bronze Age roundhouses. The Neolithic pits were concentrated around the Shevock Burn, a small tributary of the Ury, and in the East...Moore, Richard ; Lingard, Claire ; Johnson, M ; Clarke, Ann ; Hastie, M …
Ring-ditch roundhouse, Impressed Ware, Neolithic pits, Bronze Age, Post-built roundhouse, and Modified Carinated Bowl
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Journal article
The Eocene Protohierodula crabbi Ross, 2019 cannot be reliably assigned to Manteidae (Insecta: Mantodea): A reply
I accept Schubnel & Nel's (2019) opinion that Protohierodula belongs to the clade Artimantodea, that it cannot be reliably assigned to the family Manteidae and should be regarded as family incertae sedis.Ross, Andrew
Mantoidea, Isle of Wight, Artimantodea, praying mantis Priabonian, and Insect Limestone
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Journal article
Prehistoric Crafts and Identities. Special swords, glittering gold and pots for the people
Next month, National Museums Scotland will be hosting the annual Later Prehistoric Finds Group conference, this year entitled: Crafting Identities.Knight, Matthew G
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Journal article
Species identification of Late Pleistocene bat bones using collagen fingerprinting
Bats form the second most diverse mammalian order (Chiroptera), after rodents, and vary widely in their physiology and ecology. Those species that live in temperate climates are generally insectivorous and nocturnal or crepuscular, sheltering in tree hollows, caves, or buildings during the day. They are potentially valuable ecological indicators, due...Buckley, Michael ; Herman, Jeremy S
collagen, Chiroptera, ancient bats, caves, hibernation, and fingerprinting