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Book chapter
Making sense of Scottish Neolithic funerary monuments: tracing trajectories and understanding their rationale
This contribution offers an overview of the appearance , spread and regionally specific developmental trajectories of funerary monuments in Neolithic Scotland, setting these within the broader context of the arrival of farming groups from Brittany and northern France in the early centuries of the 4th millennium, and the subsequent expansion...Sheridan, J A
funerary monuments , Bayesian models , migration, Neolithic Scotland, passage tombs, cairns, and farming practices
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Book chapter
A view from north of the border
In 2021, Alasdair Whittle and his colleagues published a map showing their model of the Neolithisation of Britain and Ireland featuring, a northwards and westwards spread, from the south-east corner of England, of farming as a subsistence strategy and of other novel, associated, 'things and practices' - to borrow one...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
Ancient DNA in Ireland: isolation, migration and elite incest
Ten thousand years ago, Ireland, Britain and the adjacent continent were already sharing connections while developing separate histories and identities. Ancient DNA has brought poweful new ways of exploring these worlds, as Lara Cassidy shows with a new genomic study of hunters and early farmers.Cassidy, Lara ; Sheridan, J A
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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
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Lecture
An Egyptian Luxury in Roman Scotland
Discover how research and collecting at National Museums Scotland is reshaping understandings of Scotland's past as we take a closer look at a very special Roman object with surprising Egyptian origins.Hughes, Bettany ; Hunter, Fraser ; Potter, Dan
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Blog post
I don't do things by halves - The incredible conservation of the James Bruce drinking horn (Part 2)
Nearly a metre in length, 250 years old and broken into two shattered halves, the James Bruce drinking horn represented an epic challenge in my conservation career. This is the conclusion of the horn’s incredible conservation journey.Messerschmidt, Lydia
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Blog post
I don't do things by halves - The incredible conservation of the James Bruce drinking horn (Part 1)
Last year I encountered the most challenging object in my career as conservator so far – the James Bruce drinking horn. Dirty, cracked and broken into two distinct parts it was a long way from its original condition over 250 years ago. This is the story of the horn’s incredible...Messerschmidt, Lydia
Legacies Of Empire, Ethiopia, Conservation , and War
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Video
The Kingdom of the Scots - A virtual guided tour
Lydia Prosser, Curator of Medieval Archaeology and History, presents a personalised tour of our Kingdom of the Scots gallery. Discover collections that chart the development of Scotland into the nation we know today, from the early medieval period up to the union with England in 1707. See highlights of our...Prosser, Lydia
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Blog post
Picts ‘n Mix: complex identities in the Viking age
The Picts are best known for pulling off one of Scottish history’s most famous disappearing acts. What, or who, accounts for them vanishing from the historical record after AD900? In the northern isles, the Pictish language seems to disappear completely. The blame often falls on the Vikings, who attacked Scotland...Maldonado, Adrián
Archaeology, Picts , Scottish History, Vikings, and Shetland
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Podcast
From The Hobbit to Early Christian Burial in Scotland, with Adrián Maldonado
Kate Buchanan is joined by Adrián Maldonado to discuss Adrián’s journey to studying medieval Scottish history and his work on early Christian burial in Scotland and his current work with the Glenmorangie Research Project.Buchanan, Kate ; Maldonado, Adrián
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Lecture
Not just a load of old balls: Late Neolithic developments and the creation of a new world order in Orkney
The remarkable complex of large structures at Ness of Brodgar in Orkney has justly attracted worldwide attention, and has led to some contentious claims on popular TV programmes. This lecture investigates the emergence of the competitive, adventurous, innovative elite in Orkney who were responsible for building Ness of Brodgar and...Sheridan, J A
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Lecture
Making sense of funerary monuments and funerary practices
Megalithic chamber tombs – of widely varying shape and size – loom large in the visible traces of Scotland’s Neolithic, but they formed just one element in a diverse range of practices concerned with dealing with, relating to, and commemorating the dead. This lecture explores this diversity and draws out...Sheridan, J A
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Uncovering objects: the importance of context for the textiles of Tyninghame House, Scotland, circa 1700-1800
In 1977 the Earl of Haddington approached museums in Edinburgh, Scotland, with an offer of textiles and dress stored at Tyninghame House, East Lothian, south of the city. After consultation, the resulting sale saw a large collection of pieces split between the Royal Scottish Museum and the Museum of Antiquities....Taylor, Emily
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Conference paper (unpublished)
The Storrar Coverlet: uncovering a story of Baltic trade
This beautiful double-weave coverlet, dated 1729, was recently acquired by National Museums Scotland from the collection of a family from Fife in the east of Scotland. In the family’s possession for generations, the coverlet has been passed down, tradition has it, from mother to daughter. The double-weave technique was used...Wyld, Helen
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Book chapter
Jacob Christoff Le Blon's secret for weaving tapestry
An assessment of Jacob Christoff Le Blon's invention of a method of weaving tapestry (usually hand-woven) mechanically on a drawloom, patented in London in 1727. The article is the first detailed analysis of Le Blon's method.Wyld, Helen
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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
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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
Combined visual and biochemical analyses confirm depositor and diet for Neolithic coprolites from Skara Brae
Coprolites (fossilized faeces) can provide valuable insights into species’ diet and related habits. In archaeozoological contexts, they are a potential source of information on human-animal interactions as well as human and animal subsistence. However, despite a broad discussion on coprolites in archaeology, such finds are rarely subject to detailed examination... -
Book chapter
Proud symbols of the prospering rural seamen: Scottish Church ship models and the Shipmaster’s Societies of North East Scotland in the late 17th century'
Britain's emergence as one of Europe's major maritime powers has all too frequently been subsumed by nationalistic narratives that focus on operations and technology. This volume, by contrast, offers a daring new take on Britain's maritime past. It brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to explore the manifold...Greiling, Meredith
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Journal article
21st-century Buffalo Boys: Intersectional approaches to the complexities of modern masculinity
Scottish-born stylist, Ray Petri, founder of the maverick Buffalo Collective, defined the look and feel of the radical fashion magazines such as i-D, The Face and Arena. The Buffalo Boy look pioneered a more sexually ambiguous form of fashion iconography, undermining the putative immutability of normative codes of gender and...Ripley, Georgina
Buffalo collective, gender, queer Black masculinity, Black sexuality, Campbell Addy, intersectionality, and Ibrahim Kamara
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Book chapter
‘... one of the most remarkable traces of Roman art ... in the vicinity of the Antonine Wall.’ A forgotten funerary urn of Egyptian travertine from Camelon, and related stone vessels from Castlecary
Lawrence Keppie is as familar with laden museum shelves and antiquarian byways as he is with the mud of Walland Ditch. This paper on some remarkable finds from the Antonine Wall zone, hiding in plain sight in the stores of the National Museum, illustrates the surprises yet lurking in Wall...Hunter, Fraser
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Magazine article
The Peebles Hoard
On 21st June 2020, metal detectorist Mariusz Stepien reported a number of Late Bronze Age artefacts, including horse harness fittings, to the Treasure Trove Unit (TTU).Freeman, Emily
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Journal article
An Egyptian urn from Roman Scotland
A broken stone urn tells the story of an intrepid journey udertaken around 2,000 years ago. Fraser Hunter describes how its tale came to light once moreHunter, Fraser
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Blog post
Collecting the present
Contemporary collecting has been a hot topic for many museums for several years now. Curators have adopted several different approaches to ensuring their institutions are responsive and capturing the important issues of the time so that present and future visitors are better able to understand and learn from the experience...Breward, Chris
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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
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Lecture
Costume Society of America Roundtable: Tackling Tokenism and Diversity in our Museum Collections
Collecting and exhibiting fashion in Western museums has traditionally centered around wealthy, able-bodied, mainstream, Eurocentric ideals. Likewise, those working with costume collections have often fit this same mold. As we know, this is not representative of the diverse communities and cultures that these museums serve. The panelists spoke about how...Sklar, Monica ; Way, Elizabeth ; Lisby, Darnell-Jamal ; Neill, Susan ; Ripley, Georgina …
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Book chapter
Coarse stone
The Sculptor’s Cave is one of the most enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain. Excavated in the 1920s and 1970s, new analysis of the archive has revealed a complex history of funerary and ritual activity from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman Iron Age. Using innovative methods and new techniques, this...Cruickshanks, Gemma
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Book chapter
Worked bone, antler, teeth and shell
The Sculptor’s Cave is one of the most enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain. Excavated in the 1920s and 1970s, new analysis of the archive has revealed a complex history of funerary and ritual activity from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman Iron Age. Using innovative methods and new techniques, this...Cruickshanks, Gemma ; Hunter, Fraser
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Journal article
Incest uncovered at the elite prehistoric Newgrange monument in Ireland
The huge, elaborate, 5,000-year-old tomb at Newgrange, Ireland, is thought to have been built for a powerful elite. DNA of a man buried there reveals a case of incest. Was this a strategy to maintain a dynastic bloodline?Sheridan, Alison J
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Journal article
Deposition of modified human remains as evidence for complex mortuary treatment in East Africa during the first millennium AD
In 2019 partial, disarticulated human remains with evidence of perimortem fractures and tool marks were excavated from the site of Kabusanza in southern Rwanda (first millennium AD). The nature and location of these modifications demonstrate that some elements were subject to intentional dismemberment and defleshing, whereas the arrangement of the...Watts, Rebecca ; Mugabowagahunde , Maurice ; Ntagwabira, André ; Giblin, John
defleshing , Urewe, anthropogenic modification, dismemberment , and Rwanda
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Blog post
Romans in your letterbox
One of our most prized Roman artefacts has received the ultimate accolade – it’s featured on a Royal Mail stamp.Hunter, Fraser
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Blog post
Looting Scotland in the Viking Age
In 795 AD one of the first recorded Viking raids in Britain took place at the monastery of Iona in what is now Scotland. Dozens of raids and battles would follow, leading to the plunder of people, cattle, and, of course, portable wealth by Vikings.Maldonado, Adrián
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Blog post
These are not Viking swords
Swords of the Viking Age are some of the most iconic objects of the early medieval period. The very word ‘Viking’ conjures images of warriors, at least judging by the covers of books on Viking-age history and archaeology.Maldonado, Adrián
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Blog post
Exhibiting Mary: challenges and opportunities
Today’s blog by David Forsyth (Principal Curator, Modern and Contemporary Scottish History, National Museums Scotland) was part of the project’s virtual workshop on ‘Re-presenting Mary: challenges and opportunities’, held on 7 August 2020. David discusses his experience of curating the last major Mary exhibit in Scotland, which also launched the...Forsyth, David
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Blog post
Materialising Mary Queen of Scots at National Museums Scotland: A Renaissance Queen
In today’s blog, Dr Anna Groundwater (Principal Curator, Renaissance and Early Modern History, National Museums Scotland) walks us virtually through the Renaissance Gallery, at the National Museums Scotland in Chambers Street, Edinburgh, and reflects on the various Maries we create from objects.Groundwater, Anna
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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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Video
Fragments of the Bronze Age
Dr Matt Knight FSAScot, Curator of Prehistory at National Museums Scotland presents “Fragments of the Bronze Age. The destruction and deposition of metalwork in Britain.”, an account of research on the remains of bronze age metal objects, commonly retrieved as hoards. With thanks to Society Fellow Sir Angus Grossart QC...Knight, Matthew G
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Book
The late Roman silver treasure from Traprain Law
Excavated from Traprain Law, East Lothian, Scotland, in May 1919, was one of the most spectacular discoveries of Roman silver ever made in Europe - and the biggest hoard of `hacksilver': 23kg, battered, crushed and chopped up. Blame for the destruction has hitherto been laid at the door of `barbarians'...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth
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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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Audio
The Declaration of Arbroath
2020 marks the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, one of Scotland's most important historical artefacts. To mark the anniversary we spoke to two experts to understand more about how it was created, and why it still resonates today. In this podcast we are joined by National Museums Scotland's...Wylie, Alice ; Blackwell, Alice ; Broun, Dauvit
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Book chapter
Afterword: material reckonings with military histories
Looking at European developments from 2017 to 2019, the Afterword situates the volume among the resurgent interest in questions of contested histories, calls for restitution, and the resurgence of provenance research. It argues that given the varied ways European nations are addressing questions of colonial collections, it seems contradictory that...Lidchi, Henrietta
Post-Colonial Studies , Cultural History, Imperial/Colonial History , War Studies, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book chapter
Mementoes of power and conquest: Sikh jewellery in the collection of National Museums Scotland
This chapter traces the historical trajectory of pieces of jewellery and personal effects in the collection of National Museums Scotland which once belonged to the last Sikh ruler of Panjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838–93). Deposed from the throne after the Second Anglo–Sikh War, exiled and deprived of his possessions, religion...Voigt, Friederike
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Imperial/Colonial History , Cultural History, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book chapter
Indigenising folk art: eighteenth-century powder horns in British military collections
Engraved power horns are a well-known aspect of the material culture of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), also known in North America as the French and Indian War. In looking at collections in military museums across the UK it emerged that powder horns were a distinctive form of material culture...Lidchi, Henrietta ; Allan, Stuart
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Museum & Gallery Studies , Cultural History, and Imperial/Colonial History
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Book chapter
Seeing Tibet through soldiers' eyes: photograph albums in regimental museums
In his ‘Notes on Photography’ dated 1860 Captain Henry Shaw of the Royal Engineers itemised the uses to which photography could be applied for military and scientific purposes. He notes that over time, capturing scenes, places and persons would prove of personal interest to the photographer and more generally, justifying...Henrietta , Lidchi ; Rosanna, Nicolson
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Imperial/Colonial History , Cultural History, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book chapter
The officers' mess: an anthropology and history of the military interior
This chapter uses a model of British Army organisational culture and historical analysis to examine the nature of the ‘military interior’ – specifically the public rooms in the officers’ mess and the artefacts found within. The authors seek to combine their expertise to create a broader understanding of how military...Kirke, Charles ; Hartwell, Nicole M
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Museum & Gallery Studies , Cultural History, and Imperial/Colonial History
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Book chapter
Introduction
At a time of heightened international interest in the colonial dimensions of museum collections, Dividing the Spoils provides new perspectives on the motivations and circumstances whereby collections were appropriated and acquired during colonial military service. Combining approaches from the fields of material anthropology, imperial and military history, this book argues...Lidchi, Henrietta ; Allan, Stuart
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Imperial/Colonial History , Cultural History, and Museum & Gallery Studies
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Book
Dividing the spoils: Perspectives on military collections and the British empire
At a time of heightened international interest in the colonial dimensions of museum collections, Dividing the Spoils provides new perspectives on the motivations and circumstances whereby collections were appropriated and acquired during colonial military service. Combining approaches from the fields of material anthropology, imperial and military history, this book argues...Lidchi , Henrietta ; Allan, Stuart
Post-Colonial Studies , War Studies, Museum & Gallery Studies , Cultural History, and Imperial/Colonial History
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Book chapter
Early Medieval beads
The crannog on Llangorse Lake near Brecon in mid Wales was discovered in 1867 and first excavated in 1869 by two local antiquaries, Edgar and Henry Dumbleton, who published their findings over the next four years. In 1988 dendrochronological dates from submerged palisade planks established its construction in the ninth...Redknap, Mark ; Davis, Mary
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Book chapter
Shale lignite and cannel coal ring
The crannog on Llangorse Lake near Brecon in mid Wales was discovered in 1867 and first excavated in 1869 by two local antiquaries, Edgar and Henry Dumbleton, who published their findings over the next four years. In 1988 dendrochronological dates from submerged palisade planks established its construction in the ninth...Redknap, Mark ; Davis, Mary
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Book chapter
Analysis of Early Medieval metalworking and metalworking waste
The crannog on Llangorse Lake near Brecon in mid Wales was discovered in 1867 and first excavated in 1869 by two local antiquaries, Edgar and Henry Dumbleton, who published their findings over the next four years. In 1988 dendrochronological dates from submerged palisade planks established its construction in the ninth...Northover, P
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Book chapter
(SEM and discussion) 10.1.2: Scientific analysis of the glass inlays on the carrying hinge
The crannog on Llangorse Lake near Brecon in mid Wales was discovered in 1867 and first excavated in 1869 by two local antiquaries, Edgar and Henry Dumbleton, who published their findings over the next four years. In 1988 dendrochronological dates from submerged palisade planks established its construction in the ninth...Stapleton, C P
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Book chapter
Structure, metaphor and funerary practices in Neolithic Scotland
As noted elsewhere in this volume, the argument that Neolithic funerary monuments in Britain echo the design of the houses of the living, and acted as houses for the dead, was proposed by Ian Hodder in the 1980s (1982, 1984), developing an idea regarding long barrows earlier articulated by Gordon...Sheridan, Alison J
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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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Lecture
Creating Scotland: Assembling a Medieval Kingdom' an in-conversation event
Hamish Torrie FSAScot, The Glenmorangie Company, Dr Adrian Maldonado, National Museums Scotland, and Dr Heather Pulliam, University of Edinburgh, discuss the idea that a medieval kingdom called Scotland was not a predestined or obvious outcome of the politics of the first millennium AD. Even in the twelfth century, Britain north...Torrie, Hamish ; Maldonado, Adrián ; Pulliam, Heather
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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
From rebellion to romantic appreciation: the wearing of tartan following the Act of Proscription
Dr Rosie Waine charts the use of tartan following the repeal of the Act of Proscription, as the plaid was rehabilitated from its earlier associations with rebellion to become a popular and patriotic fashion fabric in Britain.Waine, Rosie
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Conference paper (published)
The creative reinterpretation of axeheads: the use of jadeitite and other Alpine rocks
Axeheads made of jadeitite and of other Alpine rocks (notably omphacitites and fine-grained eclogites) provide a classic example of an artefact type that acquired a symbolic meaning over and above its original functional meaning as a tool for felling trees and working wood. Axes were a necessary tool for farming...Sheridan, J A
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Book
Objects of the past in the past: investigating the significance of earlier artefacts in later contexts
How did past communities view, understand and communicate their pasts? And how can we, as archaeologists, understand this? In recent years these questions have been approached through studies of the extended occupation and use of landscapes, monuments and artefacts to explore concepts of time and memory. But what of objects...Knight, Matthew G ; Boughton, Dot ; Wilkinson, Rachel E
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Book chapter
Tangled up in blue: the role of riebeckite felsite in Neolithic Shetland
The social processes involved in acquiring flint and stone in the Neolithic began to be considered over thirty years ago, promoting a more dynamic view of past extraction processes. Whether by quarrying, mining or surface retrieval, the geographic source locations of raw materials and their resultant archaeological sites have been...Cooney, Gabriel ; Megarry, William ; Markham, Mik ; Gilhooly, Bernard ; O’Neill, Brendan …
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Journal article
Holy buckets! Insular identities in the Viking age
The small jewel case was marked Machrins, the name of a Viking cemetery on Colonsay, so it immediately caught my attention. I unwrapped the tissue paper to reveal a shining fragment of metal with curious markings on it.Maldonado, Adrián
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Journal article
A preliminary study on the antibacterial activity and insect repellent properties of embalming fluids from the 18th Dynasty (1550–1292 BCE) in ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife where the body of a dead person would be needed by the spirit. In order to preserve the deceased in as lifelike condition as possible they developed artificial mummification to a high level of sophistication. It is widely believed that natron was the...Barnes, Kate M ; Whiffin, A L ; Bulling, Mark T
Staphylococcus, Escherichia, Insect succession, Bacteria, Mummification, Blow flies, and Insect colonisation
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Journal article
Context for a carnyx: excavation of a long-lived ritual site at Leitchestown, Deskford, Moray, north-east Scotland
Excavations at the findspot of the Deskford carnyx, a major piece of Iron Age decorated metalwork found in a bog in the early nineteenth century, revealed a special location with a long history. Early Neolithic activity on the adjacent ridge consisted of massive postholes and pits, suggesting a ceremonial site....Hunter, Fraser
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Conference paper (published)
Creating a research framework and strategy for early gold in Britain's auriferous regions
This presentation outlines a current AHRC-funded initiative that has created an international network of those involved in the study of gold, to create a Research Framework and Strategy relating to gold use in Britain's auriferous regions, 2450-800 BC. This deals with issues of locating and characterising the source areas; of...Sheridan, J A
Bronze, sourcing, goldworking, Chalcolithic, and Gold
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Conference paper (published)
Mobility and migration among the Beaker people of Britain
The Beaker People Project, recently published in 2019, is a multi-isotope study, combined with human osteology, dental microwear analysis and radiocarbon-dating, carried out on 334 burials of the Beaker period and Early Bronze Age (c.2500-1500 cal BC) in Britain, to explore patterns of mobility, migration, diet and health. Its results...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A ; Evans, Jane ; Jay, Mandy ; Richards, Mike …
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Conference paper (published)
Constructing narratives of Britain’s (and the whole of Europe’s) prehistoric past: navigating through a sea of data and the choppy waters of contested discourses…and at a time of political madness
Trying to understand the past by constructing ‘big picture’ and more detailed narratives is what we, as archaeologists, do in our own varied ways; it’s what we have always tried to do, and it is something that has featured in a major way in this lecturer’s own career as a...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
A century of Roman silver - new views on the Traprain Treasure
Dr Fraser Hunter provides a timely reassessment of the Traprain Treasure with the results of a ten-year research project that invites us to reassess why the treasure was 'hacked' and what this can tell us about Roman links to Scotland.Hunter, Fraser
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Journal article
Survey and sampling at the Castle Dykes Iron Age ‘henge’, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire
Survey and sampling at the classic single-entranced henge monument at Castle Dykes, in North Yorkshire, has revealed traces of circular timber structures, interpreted as later prehistoric roundhouses, in the immediate vicinity and within the henge. Coring of the waterlogged silts of the internal ditch has produced considerable environmental data: plant,...Gibson, Alex ; Neubauer, Wolfgang ; Flöry, Sebastian ; Schneidhofer, Petra ; Allen, Mike …
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Book chapter
Objects of the past in the past in the past
How did past communities view, understand and communicate their pasts? And how can we, as archaeologists, understand this? In recent years these questions have been approached through studies of the extended occupation and use of landscapes, monuments and artefacts to explore concepts of time and memory. But what of objects...Knight, Matthew G ; Boughton, Dot ; Wilkinson, Rachel E
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Lecture
DNA analysis of ancient individuals found in Scotland
Dr Ange Boyle, University of Edinburgh, presents a short lecture on “DNA analysis of ancient individuals found in Scotland: part of the third great revolution in archaeology” on behalf of Dr Alison Sheridan, National Museums Scotland, and Dr Lisa Brown, Historic Environment Scotland, at the Archaeological Research in Progress (ARP...Sheridan, J A ; Brown, Lisa
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Journal article
The Sobieski Stuarts and the Garde-Robe of Scotland
Julie Holder provides a new assessment of the celebrity brothers John and Charles Edward Sobieski Stuart, whose assertion of descent from Prince Charles Edward Stuart has tended to overshadow their important work in the study of tartan and the history of Gaelic culture.Holder, Julie
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Book chapter
Doughtful associations? Assessing Bronze Age 'multi-period' hoards from northern England, Scotland and Wales
How did past communities view, understand and communicate their pasts? And how can we, as archaeologists, understand this? In recent years these questions have been approached through studies of the extended occupation and use of landscapes, monuments and artefacts to explore concepts of time and memory. But what of objects...Knight, Matthew G
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Journal article
Wild and majestic: romantic visions of Scotland
Dr Patrick Watt provides an in-depth review of the National Museum of Scotland's new exhibition that considers changing views of the tartan and bagpipes so beloved of modern-day global audiences.Watt, Patrick
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Book chapter
Early Medieval burial in European context: log coffins in Scotland
This edited volume explores how (what is today) Scotland can be compared with, contrasted to, or was connected with other parts of Early Medieval Europe. Far from a ‘dark age’, Early Medieval Scotland (AD 300–900) was a crucible of different languages and cultures, the world of the Picts, Scots, Britons...Maldonado, Adrián
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Book chapter
An Early Medieval and prehistoric nexus: the Strathearn Environs and Royal Forteviot project
This edited volume explores how (what is today) Scotland can be compared with, contrasted to, or was connected with other parts of Early Medieval Europe. Far from a ‘dark age’, Early Medieval Scotland (AD 300–900) was a crucible of different languages and cultures, the world of the Picts, Scots, Britons...Maldonado, Adrián ; Campbell, Ewan ; Driscoll, Stephen ; Gondek, Meggen
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Book
Scotland in Early Medieval Europe
This edited volume explores how (what is today) Scotland can be compared with, contrasted to, or was connected with other parts of Early Medieval Europe. Far from a ‘dark age’, Early Medieval Scotland (AD 300–900) was a crucible of different languages and cultures, the world of the Picts, Scots, Britons...Blackwell, Alice
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Book chapter
Norrie's Law, Gaulcross and beyond: widening the context of hacksilver hoarding in Scotland
This edited volume explores how (what is today) Scotland can be compared with, contrasted to, or was connected with other parts of Early Medieval Europe. Far from a ‘dark age’, Early Medieval Scotland (AD 300–900) was a crucible of different languages and cultures, the world of the Picts, Scots, Britons...Blackwell, Alice ; Goldberg, D Martin
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Book chapter
Introduction
This edited volume explores how (what is today) Scotland can be compared with, contrasted to, or was connected with other parts of Early Medieval Europe. Far from a ‘dark age’, Early Medieval Scotland (AD 300–900) was a crucible of different languages and cultures, the world of the Picts, Scots, Britons...Blackwell, Alice
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Journal article
Simulation experiments for determining the use of ancient pottery vessels: the behaviour of epicuticular leaf wax during boiling of a leafy vegetable
Laboratory experiments were performed using replica ceramic jars to simulate ancient pottery vessel use. The aim of the study was to investigate the behaviour of lipids, specifically, epicuticular leaf wax components during the processing of foodstuffs in unglazed ceramic vessels to determine if the pattern of lipid accumulation in a... -
Book chapter
Tartan: the highland habit
The story of tartan is told from the medieval love of display to the Victorian invention of exclusive clan identity. Along the journey, the history of the Highlands and its society is brought vividly to life. In the third edition of this classic and best-selling book there are: • 16...Cheape, Hugh ; Quye, Anita
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Book chapter
Intrepreting lipid residues in archaeological ceramics: preliminary results from laboratory simulations of vessel use
During the past four and a half years this group has been involved in a programme of development and testing of methods for the study of organic residues in archaeological ceramics. The analytical approach used is based on solvent extraction of powdered potsherds to release lipids absorbed in the ceramic...Evershed, R P ; Charters, Stephanie ; Quye, Anita
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Book chapter
Appendix 2. The post-1500 BC individuals
Nineteen individuals within the BPP database either produced radiocarbon dates that were later than the 2500-1500 BC core period, or else were attributed a post-1500 BC date on the basis of their find context and their unusual isotopic ratios. They range in date from the Middle Bronze Age to the...Jay, Mandy ; Montgomery, Janet ; Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
The Beaker People: project individuals, their funerary practices and their grave goods
This chapter introduces the individuals in the BPP Database, focusing on those dating to the Project's core period of 2500-1500 BC (rather than those found to date earlier or later: see Appendices 1 and 2 for thes), and especially those belonging to the Beaker period, from the 25th century to...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Needham, Stuart ; Sheridan, J A ; Gibson, Alex
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Book chapter
Appendix 1. The pre-2500 BC individuals
Some 17 individuals sampled for the BPP can be assigned to the Neolithic period, either on the basis of radiocarbon dating (n=12) or because of their contextual associations (n=5). In some cases (such as Liffs Low, Derbyshire) the selection had been deliberate: they were known to be Neolithic when they...Jay, Mandy ; Montgomery, Janet ; Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A
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Book
The Beaker people: isotopes, mobility and diet in prehistoric Britain
The Beaker People: Isotopes, Mobility and Diet in Prehistoric Britain presents the results of a major project that sought to address a century-old question about the people who were buried with Beakers a – the distinctive pottery of Continental origin that was current, predominantly in equally distinctive burials, in Britain...Pearson, Mike Parker ; Sheridan, J A ; Jay, Mandy ; Chamberlain, A ; Richards, M P …
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Book chapter
Technologies of the self: painted pebbles, ornaments and the burial
During the late 1st millennium BC into the early 1st millennium AD, the small island of Unst in the far north of the Shetland (and British) Isles was home to well-established and connected farming and fishing communities. The Iron Age settlement at Milla Skerra was occupied for at least 500...Goldberg, D Martin ; Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
Objects made of iron and bone
During the late 1st millennium BC into the early 1st millennium AD, the small island of Unst in the far north of the Shetland (and British) Isles was home to well-established and connected farming and fishing communities. The Iron Age settlement at Milla Skerra was occupied for at least 500...Goldberg, D Martin ; Hunter, Fraser
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Journal article
A Raman spectroscopic analysis of pigments from Dynastic Egyptian funerary artefacts
As part of a comprehensive analytical survey, Raman spectra were obtained of pigments from ancient Egyptian funerary artefacts dating from the 17th Dynasty to the Graeco‐Roman period, using several laser excitation wavelengths. A wide colour palette has been identified with mineral pigments and pigment mixtures; several variations were detected with...Edwards, Howell G M ; Jorde Villar, S E ; Eremin, Katherine
Egyptian artefacts, mineral pigments, sarcophagi, and micro‐Raman spectroscopy
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Journal article
Ivory Towers of entitlement?: the commercialisation of academic palaeontologists
Palaeontology suffers from divisions amongst its community, along an ostensibly motivational division between acadmic and commercial palaeontologists, the former not being motivated financially, unlike the latter. These divisions are particularly plarised in the United States of America. In order to discuss why this attitude exsists, even when the financial division...Liston, Jeff
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Journal article
The facial reconstruction of an Ancient Egyptian Queen
The National Museums of Scotland Mummy Project has provided important new information about a burial excavated in Egypt. This has resulted in the facial reconstruction of a woman who was probably a queen at Thebes ca. 1570-1520 BCE. There are strong suggestions from the grave goods and her diet that...Manley, Bill ; Eremin, Katherine ; Shortland, Andrew ; Wilkinson, Caroline M
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