Here it is! The big archaeology secret I’ve been not allowed to talk about for nearly 6 months…
I’m part of a voluntary organisation called the Rosemarkie Caves Project, and we’ve been doing small excavations on some of the caves that line the south coast of the Black Isle to investigate their potential for archaeology. Last September, on our last day of digging (typical!) we uncovered something truly incredible… The excellently preserved remains of a pretty violently killed Pictish man, tucked into a small nook of the cave. He was on his back with his ankles crossed and arms down by his sides, boulders on his hands and between his legs – a very odd position that screams “ritual”.
Prof Sue Black and her team – forensic anthropologists who usually don’t deal with archaeological remains but those of the more recent past such as identifying victims of war crimes – took on the task of examining the skeleton and detailing his violent demise (the article has the full account). They also created an incredible facial reconstruction of the man – handsome guy.
Archaeologically speaking, human remains in Scotland are generally poorly preserved due to the soil’s acidity. These remains were from a sandy context, protected from the elements by the cave itself, and are perhaps unique in their excellent preservation for their Pictish date.
There’s still a lot more work to be done – we’re waiting for isotope analysis to be carried out to determine a little more about the individual’s origins, and eventually he’ll be written into the broader context of Pictish archaeology, a section of history we still don’t know very much about. What he was doing there and why he was killed we may never know (Sacrifice? Murder? Did the people carrying out the metal working nearby know about the remains, were they the ones who killed him? So many questions!) – but we do know there are plenty more caves to be investigated… Who knows what else we’ll find in them!
If anyone has an questions, give me a shout.
Is…is he single?
Facial reconstruction made of ‘brutally-killed’ Pictish man – BBC News
Mooncustafer 