Archaeology – a dynamic Department

By Dr Alison Sheridan, Head of Early Prehistory, Department of Archaeology

September is Scottish Archaeology Month (SAM), an annual initiative co-ordinated by Archaeology Scotland. The National Museums Scotland Archaeology Department have been supporting SAM since its inception and this year was no exception. From Eday to Carsphairn and from Lewis to Dornoch, Archaeology curators have been sharing their expertise with the public in this nationwide celebration of Scotland’s archaeology. The whole initiative is driven by local groups, who send in requests for events and speakers. The Archaeology curators proved to be a popular choice!

The whole sweep of Scotland’s past was covered in the baker’s dozen of presentations by Alan Saville, Alison Sheridan, Trevor Cowie, Fraser Hunter, Alice Blackwell, Martin Goldberg and David Caldwell, with an additional guest appearance by ancient DNA expert Dr Oliver Craig of York University. From Mesolithic microliths to Jacobite muskets, and from Iron Age chariots to the latest in forensic archaeology, there was something for everyone, and the audiences were delighted!

Some of the audience for Alison Sheridan’s talk on Eday, including Eday Ranger Gillian Skuse (second from right), who organised the lecture.

To give just one example of how popular the events turned out to be, Trevor Cowie’s talk, ‘Dead Interesting: Bog Bodies from Scotland and beyond’, held at a community centre in Stornoway on 27 September, was a real success. Here, in Trevor’s words, is what happened:

“The organisers – Bostadh Archaeological Group – were expecting their usual turnout of around 12-15 and had arranged for their customary small meeting room. However just as the clock approached the 7.30pm start, the audience swelled to around 40-50 – a telling reflection of the enduring fascination with human remains among the public at large, even if it meant that conditions in the packed room became increasingly sauna-like as the evening went on.

“National Museums Scotland holds exceptionally well preserved clothing and other artefacts dating from c 1700 which were found with the remains of a male body on Arnish Moor near Stornoway in 1964 (currently in storage in the National Museums Collection Centre). As it is always nice to meet members of the public with a direct connection to significant discoveries, it was particularly pleasing afterwards to meet several members of the audience who were descendents of the two brothers who had found the body while peat cutting nearly half a century ago!”

Costume worn by ‘Arnish Man’.

Other audiences elsewhere were equally enthusiastic. Feedback sent to Archaeology Scotland’s Dr Mags McCartney includes the following:

“John and I just wanted to tell you how much David Caldwell’s talk was enjoyed by a small, but well-informed, audience last night.  Discussions continued long after he had left and particular interest was in Mons Meg, which was tested in Armadale in 1980…Thanks again for your help in organising the event.”

Rosie and John Wells, The History of Armadale Association, West Lothian

“We had a fascinating and informative lecture from Martin [Goldberg] on Thursday evening; everyone I spoke to said how much they had enjoyed it and been interested.  I think we would all be glad to hear in two or three years’ time how far he gets.”

Helma Reynolds, Cromarty History Society

David Caldwell addresses the History of Armadale Association.

Such ringing endorsements underline the vital outreach role played by National Museums Scotland Archaeology curators in disseminating the results of their research to the wider public. We’re already looking forward to doing it all over again in 2012!

 

All that glitters isn’t gold

By Alice Blackwell, Glenmorangie Research Officer

What a few weeks it has been! A little bit of everything, but nearly all of it involving silver, in one way or another.

I and my colleague Martin Goldberg, Curator of the museum’s Early Historic collections, were invited to Dublin to attend the opening of the National Museum of Ireland’s new ‘Treasury’ display. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to see a brand new display of Ireland’s best Early Historic collections. Among the stars are the silver Christian chalices from Ardagh and Derrynaflan. And while we were in Dublin we took the opportunity to visit the Book of Kells – not the first time for either of us, but such a special experience.

Curator Martin Goldberg explores the Treasury exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland.

Silver brooches and ingots in the Treasury exhibition at National Museum of Ireland.

Back in Edinburgh and we spent time with our colleagues in the Museum’s Conservation and Analytical Research department, continuing our research strand on Early Historic Scottish silver artefacts. Here you can see one of the massive silver chains being analysed. This piece of equipment can help us examine the composition of the silver, and build up a better understanding of how the use of silver changed over time.

A silver chain is analysed in the Conservation and Analytical Research department.

Part of the Traprain Law treasure.

Then, somewhat of a surprise, I found myself doing some family history research – looking into the life of the person who, in the early 19^thcentury, found one of Scotland’s most important Early Historic discoveries – the hoard of silver from Norrie’s Law in Fife. We’re working hard pulling together fragments of information about this hoard, trying to better understand how it was found, as well as improving our understanding of the objects themselves.

Silver from the Norrie's Law hoard.

I’ve also had the pleasure of a happy hour talking to silversmiths, colleagues in the museum, and international silver specialists, in order to try to get to the bottom of quite how some our surviving archaeological treasures were made. And next week I’ll be back in the laboratory with more silver objects, using a variety of pieces of equipment to test some of the theories that we came up with.

Silver chains.

Truly, silver is the new gold! Or, it might have been in the Early Historic period anyway.

 

Future research into Scotland’s past

By Alice Blackwell, Glenmorangie Research Officer

Great news!

We’re extremely pleased to announce that National Museums Scotland’s partnership with The Glenmorangie Company, which supports research into a formative period of Scotland’s past, will continue for a further three years.

The project is undertaking new research on Scotland during the Early Historic period, roughly AD 300–900. This period comes immediately before the first entity known as ‘Scotland’, and far from being a Dark Age these centuries were a vibrant time in Scotland’s past.

In a challenging economic climate, and with many cultural and public institutions facing funding uncertainty, this long-term support is a fantastic boost. The partnership is regarded as a model for how business can support culture and last year we won a coveted Arts and Business Scotland Award in recognition of our work together. Last week we beat stiff competition to win a prestigious national Hollis Sponsorship Award.

Glenmorangie logo projected onto the museum tower.

At the moment we’re busy finishing a major new book on the period, due to be published later this year. Building up to writing this book, we’ve been researching some of the most stunning objects in National Museums’ archaeology collections. These include the fascinating massive solid silver chains – the one pictured here weighs nearly two kilograms!

Solid silver chain.

An important part of the project so far has been commissioning contemporary artists to make ‘recreations’ of Early Historic objects that have not survived the tests of time. These included our wooden Pictish throne, shown here on display in the Scottish parliament building.

The Pictish throne on display at the Scottish Parliament.

Over the next three years we’re going to continue this exciting programme of modern recreations, so watch out for future blogs and watch the past come to life at our new web pages.

Cheers or sláinte!

Sláinte!

 

Whisky, jewellery and shoes: the ideal job?

By Alice Blackwell, Glenmorangie Research Officer

My name is Alice and some people say I have the best job title – I am the Glenmorangie Research Officer at National Museums Scotland. But my job is not to research Glenmorangie or whisky – unless you count what I do in my own time on a Friday night! I’m an archaeologist and I’m part of a small research team working on a project supported by Glenmorangie to gain a better understanding of Early Historic Scotland. This is basically the period after the Romans and before the Vikings arrived – from around AD 300 to 900.

Lots of amazing objects were made at this time and this is part of why I love my job. One day I can be handling a precious silver hoard, the next peeking inside a small Christian relic casket. I get to study beautiful sculpture, exquisite metalwork, and intriguing leather remains. A surprise today was how poignant it felt to be photographing a pair of 1500-year old shoes.

Me looking at a brooch from St Ninian’s Isle, Shetland.

Opening the Monymusk Reliquary.

Some of the most interesting things I’ve done to date have involved getting to know contemporary artists so that we can tap their knowledge and skills to help understand our archaeology collections better. Through these partnerships we have brought to life objects that no longer survive, and gained often unexpected insights into how things were made and used. At the moment you can see a pair of reconstructed book satchels – the kind of things monks would have used to carry precious illuminated manuscripts like the Book of Kells across Scotland – these are on display in the National Museum of Scotland, just inside the Tower Entrance.

The satchels on display in the National Museum of Scotland.

You can find out more about the Monymusk reliquary and St Ninian’s Isle treasure here.