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Book chapter
Stone tools
The excavations at Lower Callerton revealed a multiphase Iron Age settlement consisting of 53 structures, multiple enclosures and linear boundaries which extended beyond the excavated area (Fig. 4.1). The activity was concentrated within Area 2, which measured c. 4.6 ha, with the removal of the topsoil revealing a settlement extending...Hunter, Fraser
Lower Callerton, excavations, settlement, Iron Age , and Stone tools
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Journal article
Nostalgia in the prehistoric archaeological record
Evidence from the prehistoric archaeological record clearly shows that ancient societies had a sense of and engaged with their own histories, be it by reusing, re-appropriating or recreating past material culture. The affective qualities of materials, places and even human remains would have enabled people to remember and connect with...Knight, Matthew G
material culture, human remains, reuse, materials, prehistoric archaeological record, recreation, and re-appropriation
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Journal article
Newly-discovered pilgrim souvenirs fit for a saintly queen
Lydia Prosser and Robert Webley take a look at the implications of the exciting discovery of a pair of medieval Scottish pilgrim badges. How did these items find their way to Cambridgeshire and what can this tell us about the use of such badges in the Middle Ages?Prosser, Lydia ; Webley, Robert
cult, metal detecting, Medieval Scotland, Fordham, Cambridgeshire, pilgrim badges, Portable Antiquities Scheme, and Saint Margaret of Scotland
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Research report
Exchange: Community-led Collections Research Recommendations for more equitable participation
The Exchange project funded museum partners around the UK to undertake community-led collections-based research and creative outputs. All Exchange projects used participatory research methodologies, working with African, Caribbean, and South Asian diaspora heritage community members to explore experiences of empire, migration, and life in Britain. The first stage of Exchange... -
Journal article
We need to encourage a plurality of voices in collections-based research
Stories have too narrow a perspective, says John Giblin and Phoenix ArcherGiblin, John ; Archer, Phoenix
Exchange, African, Caribbean and South Asian diaspora heritage communities, Museology, Colonial Histories and Legacies, and Collections Research
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Doctoral thesis
“A Co-operation of Observers”: Crafting knowledge infrastructures for microscopy
In 1887, the President of the British Postal Microscopical Society, J. W. Measures, declared that "the beginner is unable to learn from the books on the microscope all the minutiae of so fine an art as mounting (microscope specimens). "1 The preparation of microscope slides, the observation of specimens, as...Beiermann, Lea
scientific instruments, craft knowledge, citizen science, and microscopes
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Lecture
Sacrifice, scrap or something else? Practices of metalwork deposition in Late Bronze Age Britain and Ireland
Throughout the Bronze Age, large quantities of metal artefacts were deposited across Europe. Interpretations often centre around whether these deposits may have been sacrificial offerings to deities or else discarded scrap metal intended for recycling. These grand ideas mask the individual decisions local communities made when depositing their objects, such...Knight, Matthew
recycle, archaeology, Bronze Age Europe, metal depositpion, worship, and sacrificial objects
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Lecture
Feasting with Latinus: the earliest Christians of Whithorn
The excavations led by the late Peter Hill at Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway are widely understood as revealing one of the earliest monasteries in Britain. New analysis and dating evidence by the Cold Case Whithorn project is forcing a rethink of the earliest phases of the sequence. A poorly-understood late... -
Book review
Review of: The Circular Archetype in Microcosm: the carved stone balls of late Neolithic Scotland. Chris L Stewart-Moffitt
Carved stone balls are on of Scotland's most intriguing Neolithic artefacts.Anderson-Whymark, Hugo
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Book chapter
Lithics
Evidence for earlier prehistoric activity in the vicinity of Iron Age settlements is common in the north-east region, and the sites of Morley Hill and Lower Callerton are no exceptions. Pre-Iron Age activity tends to be scattered and smaller in scale, often appearing as a series of discrete pits, only...Anderson-Whymark, Hugo
Lithics, Mesolithic , Lower Callerton, Morley Hill , Bronze Age, Neolithic, and earlier prehistory
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Book chapter
The Matter of Slavery at National Museums Scotland
In the ‘Industry and Empire’ gallery of the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) in Edinburgh sits a gleaming cup of white porcelain, resting on its saucer. Text rendered in black lettering around the body of the cup reads: ‘and so it was that those long sea/journeys became yonder awa awa’....Laurenson, Sarah
Colonial Histories and Legacies, Slavery, Scotland, and Industry and Empire
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Magazine article
'The 'Qurna Queen' In: Herstory - women who changed the world
To mark Women's History Month, female curators at National Museums Scotland have each selected an inspiration woman represented in the collection. From entomologist to artist to queen, their legacy lives on.Maitland, Margaret
Archaeology, Women's History Month, Nubia, gold jewellery, gilded coffin, Excavations in Egypt, and Qurna Queen
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Magazine article
'Mary, Queen of Scots' In: Herstory - women who changed the world
To mark Women's History Month, female curators at National Museums Scotland have each selected an inspiration woman represented in the collection. From entomologist to artist to queen, their legacy lives on.Groundwater, Anna
Women's History Month, The Mary, Queen of Scots Casket, tomb, Monarchy, and Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
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Video
Museum Role Call: Rachel Drury
MUSEUM ROLE CALL! In our second episode, we surprised Rachel in the Learning Centre. Join us as we follow her around asking a bunch of random and not-so-random questions.National Museums Scotland
workshops, handling collections, sessions, museum audiences, learning enabler, learning studios, and engagement
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Journal article
Collecting the nation in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1832–91
The sixty-year period from 1832 to 1891 was key to the development of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and its museum, during which time its collection was transferred to national ownership and greater emphasis began to be placed on social and cultural history. This article analyses acquisition data to... -
Blog post
The Majestic and the Mundane the material culture of coronations
With the approaching coronation of King Charles III, Georgia Vullinghs, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary History, has been looking at our collections of coronation material. From batons of ceremony and containers for holy oils, to souvenir cups, handkerchiefs, and biscuit tins, this range of material performs an important function...Vullinghs, Georgia
Coronation, Royal History , Scottish History, Politics, and Collections
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Interactive resource
Scottish material culture in historical coronations
On 6 May Charles III’s coronation will take place in Westminster Abbey – where English monarchs have been crowned since at least the 11th century. But Charles is not just king of England, he is king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as fourteen...Wyld, Helen
Scottish Material Culture, Coronations, Politics and Society, Fashion And Textiles, and Kings and Queens
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Journal article
Not so hidden messages
The written word is a powerful and persuasive tool that can inspire and revolt in equal measure. Equally, jewellery has the power to spread messages and has been used for generations to declare an individual’s position of allegiance or defiance. By incorporating a message, slogan or symbol, a jewel becomes...Rothwell, Sarah
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Journal article
Textiles in a Viking Age hoard: Identifying ephemeral traces of textiles in metal corrosion products
This paper presents a novel method and terminology to identify and describe textiles from ephemeral traces in metal corrosion products. Since the 1980s, mineralised textiles (positive and negative casts in Janaway’s terminology) have been an important source of archaeological evidence. A major issue now is the identification of textiles in...Davis, Mary ; Harris, Susanna
Textile , Mineralisation, Silver, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Microscopy, Copper corrosion, Viking age, and Anglo-Saxon
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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
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Lecture
“Piece Offerings”: the Destruction and Deposition of Metalwork in Bronze Age Britain?
The destruction and deposition of Bronze Age metalwork took many forms. Weapons were decommissioned and thrown into rivers; axes were fragmented and piled in hoards; and ornaments were crushed, contorted and placed in certain landscapes. There are many such examples from south-west Britain. But what did these practices mean to...Knight, Matthew G
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Exhibition-related event
Spotlight On: Audubon’s Birds of America
Discover how Birds of America, one of the world’s rarest and most coveted books, was made, and learn about the ongoing conservation work to preserve these life-size, hand-coloured prints for future generations. Exhibition Curator Mark Glancy will discuss the journey of bringing the stories behind the Birds of America publication...Glancy, Mark ; Cumming, Lisa
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Blog post
Cups saucers and women's right to vote
How might our design choices inform our values? A recent addition to our collections allows us to explore a group of radical ceramics for Women’s History Month. Claire Blakey, Curator Modern Decorative Arts, talks us through a tea set made to champion women’s suffrage.Blakey, Claire
Suffragette , Women , Ceramics, and WSPU
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Blog post
A badge of honour
The symbolic nature of jewellery has allowed wearers to signal their beliefs, alliances and values for thousands of years. For Women’s History Month, our Senior Curator Modern & Contemporary Design Sarah Rothwell explores the recent acquisition of a brooch that tells the defiant story of women’s suffrage.Rothwell, Sarah
Suffragette , Women , Women Designers, and WSPU
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Book chapter
The burial of the “Qurna Queen”
The personal adornments and objects from the burial of Queen Ahhotep belong to one of the most spectacular finds from Ancient Egypt. The history of their discovery is still a mystery. Even the identity of the queen is not fully solved. The twelve essays in this volume tackle different problems...Maitland, Margaret ; Potter, Daniel M ; Troalen, Lore
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Journal article
Defining role
Geraldine Kendall Adams talks to Christopher Breward about the shift in priorities for National Museums Scotland. Photography by Philip SayerKendall Adams, Geraldine
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Journal article
“Balure Dun”
The site at Balure, until relatively recently, was unrecognised as a dun structure, although it had been noted by Forestry Commission operatives as an enclosure and/or cairn and recorded as such on the Forestry Commission’s Heritage database for North Knapdale Forest.Regan, Roddy ; Campbell, Ewan ; Ballin, Torben ; Sheridan, J A ; Cressey, Michael
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Book chapter
Introduction
The period c.1745-1845 was a revolutionary chapter in the history of Highland dress. With the advent of the European Romantic movement, this once regional costume was revived and reinvented to reflect the changing times and preoccupations of its wearers. Associated with the warrior culture of Gaelic society, by the close...Waine, Rosie
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Book
Highland Style: Fashioning Highland dress c.1745-1845
For many people across the world, Highland dress, bagpipes and Highland landscapes are the images of Scotland that first spring to mind. Ideas about the Scottish Highlands which took hold around the turn of the 19th century remain to the present day. National Museums Scotland holds a significant collection of...Waine, Rosie
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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
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Journal article
Review of: Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens (London, The British Library, 8 October 2021–20 February 2022). Catalogue: Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens, ed. Susan Doran. London: The British Library, 2021
Despite the wishful attempts of playwrights and film directors, Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots never met. Nonetheless, theirs was a close relationship, and it lies at the heart of the exhibition Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens, and the excellent accompanying book.Groundwater, Anna
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Lecture
The Gold Cups of Eternal Stability and the Celebration of the Chinese New Year
The Gold Cups of Eternal Stability are among the most extraordinary objects in the Wallace Collection. The Qianlong Emperor ordered them especially for the First Stroke Ceremony, performed on the New Year’s Day in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Their surface is covered with kingfisher feathers, a technique also used...Cao, Qin ; de Wit, Ada
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Blog post
Joan Faithfull’s Mull pottery
What does it mean for an object to be ‘of’ a place? Joan Fathfull’s pottery in Tormore, Mull, became a fixture for visitors to the Inner Hebrides in the mid-20th century. Ailsa Hutton, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary History, discusses the recent gifting of Joan’s works by her sons,...Hutton, Ailsa
Scottish History, Contemporary Collecting , Mull , and Pottery
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Blog post
Conserving the Galloway Hoard: a silver brooch goes under the microscope
The Galloway Hoard was in the ground for nearly 1,000 years. That brings all kinds of conservation challenges, as Galloway Hoard Project Artefact Conservator Mary Davis explains. Learn what it takes to preserve Viking-Age treasures, and what the conservation process tells us about the objects and people who used and...Davis, Mary
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Journal article
Reintroducing the Vikings into Scotland's story
Dr Adrián Maldonado takes anothe rlook at the formation of Scotland, to ask whether we should recalibrate our images of the 'Vikings' to include more than just people of Norse descent.Maldonado, Adrián
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Exhibition audio-visual guide
The Silver Casket
The Mary, Queen of Scots Casket is one of Scotland’s most cherished treasures, thanks to its long-standing association with the controversial queen. Take a closer look at this extremely rare work of early French silver and its associations with Mary, Queen of Scots presented by Dr Anna Groundwater, Principal Curator...Groundwater, Anna
Gold and Silver , Story , Kings and Queens, and Scottish History and Archaeology
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Journal article
Noninvasive characterization and quantification of anthraquinones in dyed woolen threads by visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy
The anthraquinone components of the roots of various species of madder (like Rubia tinctorum L. and Rubia peregrina L.) have been used for millennia as red colorants in textiles, carpets, tapestries, and other objects. To understand the selection and preparation of dyestuffs in various cultures and historical periods, these dyes...Chavanne, Clarisse ; Troalen, Lore G ; Fronty, Isabelle Bardies ; Buléon, Pascal ; Walter, Philippe
Dyes and pigments, Optical properties, Extraction, Color, and Liquid chromatography
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Lecture
Textiles of the Galloway Hoard
Join Dr Susanna Harris and Dr Alexandra Makin, as they call in to Kirkcudbright Galleries to tell us all about the new, fascinating discoveries from the Galloway Hoard. Buried at the beginning of the 10th century in Dumfries and Galloway, the Hoard lay undisturbed for a thousand years before being...Harris, Susanna ; Makin, Alexandra
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Lecture
Unnwrapping the Galloway Hoard: first research update
Join Dr Martin Goldberg, Principal Curator of Medieval Archaeology & History at the National Museum of Scotland, as he calls in to Kirkcudbright Galleries to tell you all about the new, fascinating discoveries from the Galloway Hoard. Buried at the beginning of the 10th century in Dumfries and Galloway, the...Goldberg, Martin
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Book chapter
A re-discovered early Roman-era mummy shroud from the Rhind tomb at Thebes
The first Science for Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technologies conference was held under the auspices of His Excellency Pr. Khaled el-Enany at the Manial Palace Museum in Cairo, from 4 to 6 November 2017. Its aim was to provide a venue at which specialists in the application of physical and...Maitland, Margaret ; Ross, Jennifer ; Troalen, Lore
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Blog post
Park Life
Carys Wilkins, assistant curator in Modern & Contemporary Design at the National Museums Scotland, explores how the pandemic has influenced furniture design, in particular the park bench & in turn the museum’s acquisitions programme.Wilkins, Carys
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Blog post
Embroidered crucifixion
Thanks to a generous donation from benefactor Leslie Durst, we have acquired an exquisite seventeenth-century embroidery with a surprising history of secret Catholic devotion. This small panel embodies entwined stories of religious faith, skilled workmanship, and the mythology of a doomed Queen. Senior Curator of Historic Textiles Helen Wyld reveals...Wyld, Helen
Embroidery , Global Arts Cultures And Design , New Acquisitions , and Textiles
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Blog post
Collecting Collections: Brooches
Museums aren’t alone when it comes to collecting objects. Personal collecting, usually more rooted in identity or passion, can offer a glimpse into who people are and what makes them tick. Digital Media Content Manager Russell Dornan reflects on his brooch collection, what it says about his identity and shares...Dornan, Duncan
Collecting , LGBTQIA+, Collections , Jewellery , Brooch , LGBT History Month , and Global Arts Cultures And Design
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Book chapter
The King and I: Commemorating the privilege of royal statue dedication in Ramesside Deir El-Medina
It is generally understood that in ancient Egyptian statuary, “a private person is never sculpted together with the king”. However, an unusual small limestone statue in the collections of National Museums Scotland contradicts this understanding, depicting a man kneeling to offer a statue of a king (NMS A.1956.139). Clearly Ramesside...Maitland, Margaret
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Book
Fragments of the Bronze Age: the destruction and deposition of metalwork in South-West Britain and its wider context
The destruction and deposition of metalwork is a widely recognised phenomenon across Bronze Age Europe. Weapons were decommissioned and thrown into rivers; axes were fragmented and piled in hoards; and ornaments were crushed, contorted and placed in certain landscapes. Interpretation of this material is often considered in terms of whether...Knight, Matthew G
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Blog post
A great slaughter: The extinction of the Carolina parakeet
The Carolina parakeet is the poster bird for our Audubon’s Birds of America exhibition. Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Biology, Zena Timmons, explores the decline of this bird species, information revealed by our specimens and how an extinct species can be recreated through taxidermy.Timmons, Zena
Taxidermy, Natural Sciences, Exhibitions, Birds, Conservation, and Audubon
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Blog post
An elite education: discovery of an ancient Athenian ephebic list
A stone monument with an ancient Greek inscription in the collections of National Museums Scotland was recently discovered to be a previously unknown, unpublished Athenian ephebic list. Principal Curator Margaret Maitland and the Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections project team explain the significance of this find, and what it tells...Maitland, Margaret
World Cultures, Archaeology , Ancient Greece , and Research
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Lecture
A new Late Bronze Age sword from Swettenham, Cheshire, and its wider context Swettenham
This lecture was delivered by Matt Knight, Senior Curator of Prehistory, National Museums of Scotland, with Vanessa Oakden, Oakden In 2018 five fragments of an almost complete late Bronze Age copper-alloy sword were recovered during metal detecting at Swettenham, Cheshire. The sword falls within the ‘transitional’ group of carp’s-tongue swords...Knight, Matthew ; Oakden, Vanessa ; Jones, Ben ; Brandherm, Dirk
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Book
Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life
he book of the exhibition, Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life, 2 July-30 October 2022 at the National Museum of Scotland. History and science collide in the fascinating history of anatomy, from artistic explorations by Leonardo da Vinci, and the pioneering, lavishly illustrated book by Andreas Vesalius, to the...Phillipson, Tacye