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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
Exploring East Asia at the National Museum of Scotland
With around 23,000 objects representing the cultures of China, Japan and Korea, the National Museum of Scotland houses the largest collection of East Asian material in the United Kingdom outside London. In February 2019, a new gallery named ‘Exploring East Asia’ will open to showcase works from this collection. Exploring...Buckland, Rosina
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Journal article
By the mandate of heaven': a kingfisher-feather headdress in the National Museum of Scotland
This article focuses on a kingfisher headdress selected for the new East Asia gallery at the National Museum of Scotland. Dating to the late Qing dynasty and previously thought to be part of an opera costume, new research has revealed that this intricate headdress might instead have been the property...Cao, Qin
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Journal article
The practice of dyeing wool in Scotland c.1790-c.1840
The history of dyeing is complex, even when analysed over a short period of time and in a comparatively small country such as Scotland. There are hundreds of dyes, natural and manufactured; most require the use of further chemicals as mordants to fix the colour; dyes interact with different vegetable...Burnett, John ; Mercer, Katherine ; Quye, Anita
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Book chapter
West Highland Sculpture, Scotland – defining a Gaelic Lordship
The graveyards of the West Highland of Scotland contain many commemorative crosses and grave-slabs dating from the 14th to mid 16th century. They are carved in distinctive style from a variety of rock types. Their distribution largely coincides with the Lordship of the Isles, a powerful Gaelic Princedom, often in...Caldwell, David H ; Eremin, Katherine ; Miller, S ; Ruckley, N A
Lordship of the Isles, West Highland Sculpture, petrology, rock types, and magnetic susceptibility
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Book chapter
The metalwork
An archaeological excavation was carried out across an area proposed for re-development at Goosecroft Road, Stirling. The investigations uncovered the foundations of a substantial stone wall in the south-west corner of the site, and another wall further to the south, that probably relate to the nearby location of a medieval...Cruickshanks, Gemma
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Journal article
Round robins: Scotland's Neolithic carved stone balls
Hugo Anderson-Whymark has published digital 3D models of 60 carved stone balls in the collections of National Museums Scotland. He considers these eternally puzzling Neolithic objects.Anderson-Whymark, Hugo
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Journal article
What does the future of museum learning and engagement look like?
The Museums Association is holding a one-day conference, Future of Museums: Learning and Engagement, on 27 March at the National Museum of Scotland, EdinburghAllen, Stephen
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Book chapter
The vitrified metal
An archaeological excavation was carried out across an area proposed for re-development at Goosecroft Road, Stirling. The investigations uncovered the foundations of a substantial stone wall in the south-west corner of the site, and another wall further to the south, that probably relate to the nearby location of a medieval...Cruickshanks, Gemma
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Journal article
Art treasures were sold as palace vanished from sight
The demolition of Hamilton Palace at Hamilton in South Lanarkshire in the 1920s and the dispersal of its treasures in two sales in 1882 and 1919 was a national tragedy.Evans, Godfrey
Scotland, mausoleum, Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, Hamilton Palace, and Scottish
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Master's dissertation
After-hours events: a product for attracting, engaging and retaining new musum audiences? A case study of National Museums Scotland
Cultural heritage is recognised as one of the major contributors to the economy. As a result, museums have moved away from their traditional role as collectors and conservators of artefacts of historical importance, to become more audience focused. The recognition by museums of an obligation to meet the needs and...Easson, Hilary
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Journal article
Doughty Donald Ross - fighter for cleared Highlanders: Donald Ross [1813-1882], critic of the Highland Clearances and contemporary of Hugh Miller
Much has already been written about the Highland Clearances, then and since, foremost among them Hugh Miller in the Editor’s chair at The Witness, with such still famous leading articles as “Sutherland as it was and is” (1843), and by Donald Macleod and other eyewitnesses, to the savage cruelties of...Ross, Andrew
evictions, Donald Ross (1813-1882), emigration, Highland Clearances, and biography
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Journal article
‘Ava’: a Beaker-associated woman from a cist at Achavanich, Highland, and the story of her (re-)discovery and subsequent study
This contribution describes the discovery and subsequent investigation of a cist in a rock-cut pit at Achavanich, Highland. Discovered and excavated in 1987, the cist was found to contain the tightly contracted skeletal remains of a young woman, accompanied by a Beaker, three flint artefacts and a cattle scapula. Initial...Hoole, M ; Sheridan, J A ; Boyle, A ; Booth, T ; Brace, S …
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Journal article
The development of the Pictish symbol system: inscribing identity beyond the edges of Empire
The date of unique symbolic carvings, from various contexts across north and east Scotland, has been debated for over a century. Excavations at key sites and direct dating of engraved bone artefacts have allowed for a more precise chronology, extending from the third/fourth centuries AD, broadly contemporaneous with other non-vernacular...Noble, Gordon ; Goldberg, D Martin ; Hamilton, Derek
language, Scotland, Pictish, writing, carving, and symbolism
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Journal article
Embroidered stories
Helen Wyld introduces an extraordinary collection of Scottish needlework which records lives that would otherwise have been forgotten.Wyld, Helen
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Journal article
When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages
Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the...Dectot, Xavier
trade, walrus, Middle Ages, Iceland, narwhal, Ivory, Greenland, unicorn, and khutū
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Journal article
2. Scotland.
Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
The Neolithisation of Britain and Ireland: arrival of immigrant farmers from Continental Europe and its impact on pre-existing lifeways
Britain and Ireland located, in the north-west corner of Europe and separated from the Continent since the 7th millennium BC by the sea (and much longer in the case of Ireland), were among the last areas in Europe where an agricultural - more specifically, agro-pastoral - lifestyle became established. There...Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
Photogrammetry
The first book by megalith enthusiasts for megalith enthusiasts, drawing on the varied insights of contributors to The Megalithic Portal website, from archaeologists to ordinary site visitors. No other book covers such a wide range of prehistoric sites in Britain and Ireland or so many different and entertaining theories about...Anderson-Whymark, Hugo
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Journal article
The complexities of Metal Detecting Policy and Practice: a response to Samuel Hardy, ‘Quantitative Analysis of Open-Source Data on Metal Detecting for Cultural Property’ (Cogent Social Sciences 3, 2017)
In his paper ‘Quantitative analysis of open-source data on metal detecting for cultural property’, Samuel Hardy suggested that permissive policy is ineffective in minimizing the damage done to cultural heritage by non-professional metal detecting. This response paper contests the basic assumptions upon which this analysis is based. While Hardy‘s comparative,... -
Journal article
Personality in fashion: case studies of localism in Eighteenth-century Scotland
Is it obvious to state that a wearer’s fashion choices result from a complex mixture of personal, local–social and international influences? What if I say the same was true for consumers in rural eighteenth-century Scotland? Contemporary fashion communities sometimes idealize and demonize their past: the idyllic time before mass consumption,...Taylor, Emily
Scotland, fashion, localism, eighteenth-century, and dress
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Journal article
Lost in translation: discussing the positive contribution of hobbyist metal detecting
This paper will consider the positive contribution from hobbyist metal detecting from both the perspective of the archaeological and metal detecting community. Are we currently opting for a path of least resistance with a ‘better than nothing’ approach to encourage reporting and to maintain good working relationships, even if it... -
Book chapter
Charles Thomas in North Britain: a career in the making
A review of the academic career of Prof Charles Thomas in Scotland, pioneering early medieval archaeologist, influential in Early Christian archaeology and Pictish studies.Maldonado, Adrián ; Campbell, E
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Journal article
Uncovering stories of military collecting
Nicole Hartwell tells the story of a delicately embroidered Italian textile whose appearance is at odds with the tumultuous and bloody period of British Indian history to which it is connected.Hartwell, Nicole M
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Journal article
Final word: Glenmorangie Research Project
Dr Adrián Maldondo, the new Glenmorangie Research Fellow at National Museums Scotland, talks to History Scotland about the future of the project, which was established in 2008 and has uncovered many new insights into Scotland's medieval past.Maldonado, Adrián
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Book chapter
Ritual or lethal? Bronze weapons in late Shang China
Large-scale bronze production is one of the most salient features of late Shang China (c.1200–1050 BC). Copper-alloy weapons were cast in extraordinary quantities and varieties as shown by the rich burial assemblages known from the period. However, their practical usages are not yet well-understood, and scholars speculate whether the weapons...Cao, Qin
Bronze weapons, Functional, Late Shang China, and Wear analysis
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Journal article
The ceramic assemblage. In: Lowther, J 2018 ‘The Excavation of a Medieval Burgh Ditch at East Market Street, Edinburgh: Around the Town’, Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports 78
In 2015 excavation works undertaken in preparation for a new hotel development at East Market Street, Edinburgh, encountered the remains of a substantial ditch feature likely relating to previously excavated ditches in the medieval burghs of Edinburgh and Canongate. A substantial stratified artefact assemblage including both animal bone and ceramics...Haggarty, George
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Journal article
Twenty-first century sofa: conserving an eighteenth century object for modern museum display
This article describes the upholstery conservation treatment of a mid-eighteenth century sofa made for Spencer House, one of London's finest private houses. The sofa is now in the collection of National Museums Scotland. Details are given about the object's history, the approach taken to the complex treatment options, and the...McClean, Lynn ; Porter, Heather ; Jackson, Stephen
collaboration, conservation, sofa, Ethafoam™, upholstery, and digital
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Journal article
The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe
From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in...Olalde, Iñigo ; Brace, Selina ; Allentoft, Morten E ; Armit, Ian ; Kristiansen, Kristian …
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Journal article
Contributions. In: MacLeod Rivett, M A 2018 'Barabhas Machair: surveys of an eroding sandscape'. Scottish Archaeology Internet Report 76
The townships of Barabhas are on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides between the blanket bog of Barabhas Moor to the east, and machair and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The Barabhas Machair (centre NB 351 513) has been eroding for at least...Cowie, Trevor
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Journal article
Dirt, purity, and spatial control: anthropological perspectives on Ancient Egyptian Society and Culture in the Middle Kingdom
The concepts of purity and pollution were central to the maintenance of social boundaries in ancient Egyptian culture. Anthropological approaches, in particular the work of Mary Douglas, are useful in examining their impact on social structure and individual lived experience. Cleanliness and dirtiness were represented as defining characteristics of the...Maitland, Margaret
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Journal article
Population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain c. 6000 years ago...Brace, Selina ; Diekmann, Yoan ; Booth, Thomas J ; Faltyskova, Zuzana ; Rohland, Nadin …
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Research report
Balmachie Road, Carnoustie; Bronze Age Hoard Excavation Data Structure Report Project 4572
1.1 On Friday 9th September 2016 a small hoard of copper alloy objects within a well defined pit was uncovered by a team of GUARD Archaeology Ltd archaeologists during topsoil stripping as part of the wider programme of strip, map and record works being undertaken at David Moyes Road, Carnoustie...Hunter Blair, A ; Cameron, Esther ; Evans, Jane ; Harris, Susanna ; Murray, W …
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Journal article
The analysis and conservation of a Chinese silk birthday hanging of the Qing dynasty
It is a traditional etiquette in China to congratulate an elder on his/her birthday. A birthday hanging was one of the popular gifts to present auspicious wishes to a celebrity on his/her birthday in former times, especially in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing dynasties (1644–1911). The hanging was commissioned by...Messerschmidt, Lydia
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Journal article
Hacked up pieces of silver are helping to unravel the story of Early Medieval Scotland
They will feature in Scotland's Early Silver exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland this autumnBlackwell, Alice
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Book chapter
The glass bead
Cults Loch, at Castle Kennedy in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, loch lies within a landscape rich in prehistoric cropmark sites and within the loch itself are two crannogs, one of which has been the focus of this study. A palisaded enclosure and a promontory fort on the shores of the...Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
The shale
Cults Loch, at Castle Kennedy in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, loch lies within a landscape rich in prehistoric cropmark sites and within the loch itself are two crannogs, one of which has been the focus of this study. A palisaded enclosure and a promontory fort on the shores of the...Hunter, Fraser
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Journal article
Solving a silver jigsaw: a new hoard of Roman hacksilver from Fife
Recently discovered in Fife, the Dairsie Hoard represents the earliest-known evidence found outside the empire for Roman use of hacksilver to secure their frontiers.Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
The material world of Iron Age Wigtownshire
Cults Loch, at Castle Kennedy in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, loch lies within a landscape rich in prehistoric cropmark sites and within the loch itself are two crannogs, one of which has been the focus of this study. A palisaded enclosure and a promontory fort on the shores of the...Hunter, Fraser ; McLaren, Dawn ; Cruickshanks, Gemma
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Journal article
Denarii diplomacy: exploring Scotland’s silver age
Silver was introduced to the inhabitants of Iron Age Scotland by the Roman army. An exhibition currently running in Edinburgh reveals the impact of this exotic material throughout the 1st millennium AD.Blackwell, Alice
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Book chapter
Dating Knowth
The aim of this book is to present the archaeological history of the achievements of the passage tomb builders who constructed and used the great mound (Tomb 1) at Knowth over a period of at least three centuries, c. 3200–2900 BC. This was a time of change, and the monuments...Schulting, Rick ; Bronk Ramsey, C ; Reimer, Paula ; Eogan, George ; Cleary, Kerri …
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Journal article
Scotland's Early Silver: the most precious metal for 1,000 years
Alice Blackwell takes a look at some of the valuable and beautiful items which form part of National Museum of Scotland's winter exhibition of 1,000 years of silver in ScotlandBlackwell, Alice