SCOTTISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL RADIOCARBON DATES ASSOCIATED WITH THE NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND, 2019/20

SCOTTISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL RADIOCARBON DATES ASSOCIATED WITH NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND, 2019/20

Matthew G Knight (MGK)1 and J Alison Sheridan (JAS)1, with contributions from Hugo Anderson-Whymark (HA-W)1, Ian Armit (IA)2, Jessica Bownes (JMB)3, Angela Boyle (AB)4, David V. Clarke (DVC)5, Stewart T Cole (STC)6, Peter W Ditchfield (PWD)7, Katharina Dulias (KD)8, Ceiridwen J Edwards (CJE)8, Adrián Maldonado (AM)1, Andrew Millard (A Millard)9, Rita Monteiro (RM)8, David Reich (DR)10, Charlotte Roberts (CR)9, Sarah Semple9 and Michael A Taylor (MAT)11

The dates obtained for National Museums Scotland (NMS) material over 2019/20 have been a combination of those commissioned by NMS within its own research initiatives, and those commissioned by outside researchers for the following projects and programmes: • The European Research Council-funded COMMIOS DNA project (Communities and Connectivities: Iron Age Britons and their Continental Neighbours), led by Profs Ian Armit (University of York) and David Reich (Harvard Medical Centre) (https:// commiosarchaeology.com/) • The Leverhulme Trust-funded People and Place in the Kingdom of Northumbria AD 300–800 project, led by Prof Sarah Semple (University of Durham) (https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/all/?mode=project&id=1094) • Long-term research by Prof Stewart T Cole (Institut Pasteur, Paris) on leprosy in humans and squirrels (Cole et al 2008) and by

Prof Charlotte Roberts (University of Durham) on leprosy in humans (Roberts 2020). All of these externally-commissioned dates are on unburnt human remains.

We also report on two other sets of dates, namely i) those from human and animal remains in NMS that were obtained by Dr Jessica Bownes as part of her University of Glasgow doctoral thesis in 2018, ‘Reassessing the Scottish Mesolithic-Neolithic transition: questions of diet and chronology’; and ii) those obtained for Drs Ceiridwen J Edwards and Katharina Dulias, and for Rita Monteiro (Archaeogenetics Research Group, University of Huddersfield) on human and animal bones from an unusual chamber tomb at Strath Glebe on Skye, recently excavated by the late George Kozikowski. Although the assemblage from that monument is yet to pass through the Treasure Trove process and be allocated to a museum, it is temporarily under the care of NMS and co-ordination of the remaining post-excavation work is one of JAS’ responsibilities as a Research Associate at NMS.

In every case, the results are presented as they appear on the laboratory dating certificates, with no rounding out. Unless specified otherwise, the dates have been calibrated using OxCal v.4.3.2 (Bronk Ramsey 2009) and the IntCal13 atmospheric curve has been employed (Reimer et al 2013); readers are invited to recalibrate the dates using the new IntCal20 atmospheric curve (Reimer et al 2020) should they so wish. The bone is all unburnt.

All websites mentioned in this report were accessed in November 2020.

Dates commissioned by NMS

Findspot, (Canmore ID), Reg No Material Lab No δ13C‰ δ15N‰ C/N ratio Radiocarbon age BP Calibrated date, 68.2% probability and [bold] 95.4% probability

Cairnholy I, Dumfries and Galloway, (63716), NMS X.EZ 29.3 Human bone SUERC-94226 (GU55427) -21.2 9.6 3.4 4756±23 3632–3523 cal BC

3637–3385 cal BC

Meikle Ferry, Highland, (no Canmore ID), NMS X.ET 68 Human dentine from premolar tooth (male, adult) SUERC-94227 (GU55428)

Gask Hill, Collessie, Fife, (30151), NMS X.EQ 51 / X.EZ 48.1 Human bone (fragment of long bone from leg) SUERC-94425 (GU55426)

Jarlshof, Shetland, (513), NMS X.HSA 3115 Animal bone: ‘mattock’ made from cattle metapodial SUERC-91432 (GU54473) -18.3 14.4 3.3 374±24 cal AD 1526–1799

cal AD 1493–1810*

-20.8 11.2 3.3 3784±24 2278–2146 cal BC

2288–2141 cal BC

-21.6 4.8 3.4 2471±25 751–539 cal BC

768–434 cal BC

* Due to the estimated 32% marine contribution to this individual’s diet as revealed by the carbon and nitrogen isotope values, this date has been calibrated using a mix of the IntCal13 and Marine13 calibration curves.

1 Department of Scottish History and Archaeology, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh (corresponding author: m.knight@nms.ac.uk) 2 Department of Archaeology, University of York 3 University of Glasgow (formerly based at SUERC) 4 School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh 5 Willow Cottage, 243/1 Newhaven Road, Edinburgh EH6 4LQ 6 Institut Pasteur, 25–28, rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France ⁷ Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford ⁸ Archaeogenetics Research Group, Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, University of Huddersfield ⁹ Department of Archaeology, University of Durham 10 Reich Laboratory, Harvard Medical School 11 School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester

Comment: Cairnholy I (JAS and HA-W): this is an Early Neolithic chamber tomb, constituting a translation into stone of the ‘timber mortuary structure with façade’ format as associated with the earliest appearance of the Carinated Bowl Neolithic tradition in Scotland. It is intermediate in form between that non-megalithic monument type and the Clyde cairns that succeeded it in south-west and western Scotland. The monument was excavated by Stuart Piggott and Terence Powell in June 1949 (Piggott and Powell 1949), who discovered that there had been several periods of prehistoric activity, ranging in date from the Early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The dated bone fragment had been stored in a box labelled ‘Cairnholy No 1. Bone fragments from ‘passage’ 24/vi/49’, and even though the published report made no reference to the discovery of any unburnt human remains, nor did it refer to a ‘passage’, it can be inferred (from discussion of the ‘antechamber’ on p129 of the report) that this fragment of unburnt human bone was found in the ‘antechamber’ of the monument. Within this part of the monument, the excavators found material ranging in date from the early fourth millennium BC (ie a fragment of a deliberately broken and burnt axehead of Alpine jadeitite, and possibly some of the sherds of Carinated Bowl pottery) to the late third millennium BC (namely sherds from a comb-impressed Beaker). The radiocarbon date, in or around the third quarter of the fourth millennium, suggests that the bone relates not to the earliest use of the monument but to one of its later episodes of use—most probably that associated with the flat-rimmed, modified Carinated Bowl pottery (ibid, fig 9.3) and chert leaf-shaped arrowhead (ibid, fig 9.4) in the fill of the stone-hole at the western end of the antechamber. This activity may also be contemporary with the deposition of the vessel of modified Carinated Bowl type in the forecourt, the sherds of which were found among blocking material (ibid, fig 7.2).

Meikle Ferry (MGK and MAT): a near-complete adult male skull from Meikle Ferry (NMS X.ET 68) is one of two acquired by the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in the 1890s, probably before 1898, the other being an incomplete cranium (NMS X.ET 69). Little is known about the provenance of either skull, though both have hand-written notes on them. That on X.ET 68 reads: “Meikle Ferry, Sutherland, Hugh Miller, June 1890”; the note on X.ET 69 is similar and in the same handwriting. Dentine from a left mandibular premolar from X.ET 68 was dated in the hope of shedding light on its antiquity (and perhaps, by extension, that of skull X.ET 69). NMS X.ET 68 was previously suspected to be either prehistoric, perhaps Early Bronze Age, or more probably early medieval, on account of the presence of middens with associated Pictish material at Meikle Ferry (Canmore ID: 14654) and Littleferry Links, nearby (Canmore ID: 15339). The post-medieval date allows us to rule out these hypotheses and we must consider other possibilities as to how the individuals came to end up at Meikle Ferry. (Being a crossing point, there are records of drownings, and so it is possible that these individuals suffered such a fate.)

The labels on the skulls suggest two things: firstly, that skulls were found and/or donated to the museum in or after 1890; and secondly that they were found, collected and/or donated by Hugh Miller. Unfortunately, neither skull is mentioned in the 1892 Catalogue of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. We may speculate that the two skulls must have been acquired between 1892 and 1898, although there are no records of their donation in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and no further information in the Museum’s registration records. If, as the labels may imply, the skulls were donated by Hugh Miller, then we can rule out the famous geologist of that name (1802–56) as he died long before 1890. However, his son, Hugh Miller the younger (FSA Scot, 1850–96), is a likely candidate. He, too, was also a geologist, employed by the Geological Survey. He undertook surveys of the Ross and Cromarty area as part of his duties and occasionally published archaeological finds, such as the hoard of early medieval silver armlets and coins from Tarbat (Miller and Macleod 1889), and he donated a large collection of early medieval finds from Fendom Sands, Tain (NMS X.BK category); both sites are close to Meikle Ferry. His work in the area raises the possibility that he discovered one or both skulls, or else that they were presented to him at some point, before they were donated to the National collection. Research continues on the skulls.

Gask Hill, Collessie (MGK and JAS): The dated bone fragment from Gask Hill, Collessie, was part of an unburnt, contracted skeleton of which only parts of the leg bones survived (Anderson 1878). It was found in a stone cist that had been constructed on a prepared surface, roughly central to a perimeter kerb c20m in diameter, and covered by a cairn that survived to a maximum height of c4.3m. The individual was accompanied by a tall, slender, short-necked Beaker (NMS X.EQ 50) that was found on its side; it had been placed either in front of the head or behind the shoulders. The Beaker falls within Clarke’s N1/D type (Clarke 1970, no 1649, fig 457) and Wilkin’s Tall Short-Necked (TSN) category (Curtis and Wilkin 2019, fig 5.5). A second, short-necked Beaker (NMS X.EQ 58 : Clarke’s N2 type, approximating to Wilkin’s TSN type) was found around 3.7m to the SW of the cist, at a depth of 1.83m below the base of the cairn; it appears to have been crushed in situ and was ‘imbedded among the gravel, which was discoloured by ashes and charcoal’ (Anderson 1878, 445). Around 8m to the SW of the cist, at a depth of c1.4m below the base of the cairn and within the projected arc of the kerb, was found a deposit of calcined human remains associated with a copper-alloy dagger of Masterton type with a gold pommel-band, found in its scabbard (ibid, 440, figs 1 and 2). The position of this deposit was marked on the aforementioned prepared surface by a setting of three or four large stones. The ox-hide from the scabbard has been radiocarbondated to 2350–1750 cal BC (95.4%; OxA-4510, 3690±80 BP) and the calcined bone to 2210–1940 cal BC (95.4%; GrA-19054, 3695±45 BP: Baker et al 2003, 109, table 3).

The bone from the cist was dated in order to assess its chronological relationship with the deposit of cremated remains, and to provide a date for the Beaker. The resulting date of 2288–2141 cal BC lies within the currency for this Beaker type (Curtis and Wilkin 2019; see also other contributions in The Beaker People book, plus Needham 2005, 191–5 and Sheridan 2007). There is no statistically significant difference between the date from the cist and those pertaining to the deposit of cremated remains, and since both episodes of deposition (along with that of the second Beaker) must have taken place prior to the erection of the cairn, there need not have been a long interval between them.

Jarlshof (DVC, MGK and JAS): this artefact was dated as part of DVC’s research for the forthcoming Skara Brae publication. It follows the dating of similar examples from Skara Brae and Saevar Howe (Saverough), the latter reported in last year’s DES (Sheridan et al 2019, 127). This object type predominantly occurs as part of Orcadian Neolithic Grooved Ware-associated bone assemblages, and a previous claim that such artefacts had been used as mattocks (Foxon 1991, 154) is being critically reviewed by DVC. (Vere Gordon Childe, who found several examples at Skara Brae, referred to them as ‘adzes’: Childe 1931, 124–5.) A small number of bone objects from Jarlshof have parallels with these assemblages and it is therefore somewhat surprising that the Jarlshof example produced a Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age date as it post-dates the other examples by two millennia.

Hamilton (1956, fig 13.3) depicts this artefact as part of a group of bone objects, which he described as ‘chisels’, from Jarlshof Village I (his Late Bronze Age settlement: ibid, 18–31), though Curle (1936, 247–248, fig 12.1) illustrates the same object as coming

from the centre of Dwelling VI, which is a hut circle associated with a souterrain, located in Jarlshof Village II. (Curle referred to it as ‘adze or chisel-like’: ibid, 248.) The Museum register also indicates that this tool was recovered from Dwelling VI. Village II probably dates to the Early to Middle Iron Age.

A cattle bone from Dwelling II in Village I produced a Late Bronze Age date, 1086–919 cal BC (95.4%; BRAMS-2600, 2841±25 BP: Sheridan et al 2018, 219), which is consistent with the likely date of the metalworking debris from Village I. From Village II a human cranium fragment from Dwelling V produced a date of 522–383 cal BC (95.4%; SUERC-24963, 2360±30 BP: Tucker and Armit 2009, 215) and on balance, we may suggest that the dating of the ‘mattock’ is more consistent with the expected date of activities at Village II. This of course still does not explain the late date of this object type, although it could well be that its resemblance to Neolithic examples is purely coincidental.

Dates commissioned by and obtained for the COMMIOS project, University of York and Harvard Medical Centre

Findspot, (Canmore ID), Reg No, other identifier Material Lab No δ13C‰ δ15N‰ C/N ratio Radiocarbon age BP Calibrated date, 68.2% probability and [bold] 95.4% probability

Embo, Highland (Sutherland) (15376), NMS X.unReg (NMS sample 5), box 3, Ch Ib (southern chamber), Sk ‘h’, GENLAB 295, I19286 Human bone, petrous temporal (cochlea) (male, adult, around 30 yo) SUERC-95467 (GU56071) -20.8 11.5 3.4 4455±22 3316–3029 cal BC

3330–3022 cal BC

Law Road, North Berwick (281641), NMS X.unReg, Cist F 1000, Context 51, GENLAB 310, I16499 Human bone, R humerus (male, adult, middle aged or older) SUERC-94958 (GU55801)

Law Road, North Berwick, East Lothian (281641), NMS X.unReg, Cist F 1000, Context 50, GENLAB 308, I16495 Human bone, R mandible (female, 16–18 yo) SUERC-94953 (GU55799) -20.4 11.7 3.3 2103±30 172–61 cal BC

200–47 cal BC

-20.0 12.2 3.3 2091±30 163–56 cal BC

195–43 cal BC

Law Road, North Berwick (281641), NMS X.unReg, Cist F 1000, Context 46, GENLAB 311, I16418 Human bone, ulna (male, adult, middle aged) SUERC-94959 (GU55802) -20.2 11.8 3.4 2019±30 50 cal BC–cal AD 22

105 cal BC–cal AD 59

Law Road, North Berwick (281641), NMS X.unReg, Cist F 1000, Context 47, GENLAB 309, I16413 Human bone, humerus (female, adult, middle aged) SUERC-94954 (GU55800)

Ringleyhall, Cairnmount, Scottish Borders (57202), NMS X.unReg, GENLAB 294, I19993 i) Human bone, petrous temporal (cochlea) (male, young adult) ii) Human bone, R humeral shaft, same individual i) SUERC-95732 (GU56072) ii) SUERC-95413 (GU56040) i) -21.2 ii) -21.4 i) 11.7 ii) 11.6 i) 3.5 ii) 3.6 i) 1550±26 ii) 1536±27

-20.8 12.2 3.3 1987±29 36 cal BC–cal AD 53

46 cal BC–cal AD 72

i) cal AD 431–549 cal AD 425–568 ii) cal AD 433–568 cal AD 427–589

Isle of May, Fife (57873), skeleton 959 NMS X.unReg, GENLAB 301, I16496 Human bone, fragment of L mandible (male, adult) SUERC-95414 (GU56041)

St Roque’s Chapel cemetery, City of Edinburgh (52544), NMS X.unReg, GENLAB 293, I14199 Human bone, petrous temporal (male, probably adult) SUERC-95415 (GU56042) -20.0 11.9 3.5 1393±27 cal AD 631–663

cal AD 605–669

-19.1 12.2 3.5 420±27 cal AD 1511–1635

cal AD 1457–1650

Comment (IA, DR, JAS, AB and MGK): The COMMIOS project, led by IA at the University of York, in collaboration with DR of the Reich Laboratory at Harvard Medical School, along with the British Geological Survey and SUERC, uses aDNA, isotope and osteological analyses to investigate the demography of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Britain in its European context (Patterson et al submitted). In addition to analysing human remains from those periods, it has included some belonging to other periods, for comparison. The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 834087. Summary comments on the results listed above are as follows; note that, except where stated otherwise, the sex determinations are those obtained from DNA, thereby corroborating osteological identifications where these already exist: Embo passage tomb: for comments, see the section below on dates obtained by Dr Jessica Bownes for her doctoral research, as these also include a result from that monument. Law Road, North Berwick: the remains of two adult males and two adult females were found in a substantial square cist (Richardson et al 2005). The males (from contexts 46 and 51) seem to have been the original occupants of the cist, and the females (from contexts 47 and 50) were deposited subsequently, after skeletonization had occurred, displacing some of the males’ bones. The middle-aged female from context 47 was wearing an iron brooch, and the middle-aged male from context 46 was associated with a bone-handled iron knife. The radiocarbon dates confirm the excavators’ conclusion that this was an Iron Age cist.

Ringleyhall: the remains of this tall male, around 18 years old, were found in an extended position in an E–W-oriented long cist, excavated in 1972 by Graham Ritchie following its discovery and damage by forestry ploughing (Ritchie et al 1975). Ritchie suspected that the cist was of early medieval date, and the two newly-obtained radiocarbon dates confirm this, although they are slightly earlier than the sixth to eighth century AD date range that he had suggested. (The body was accidentally dated twice; the results are consistent.) The remains were initially examined by Archibald Young (bones) and Dorothy Lunt (dentition). Their re-examination by AB in 2019 resulted in the discovery of probable sharp-force trauma on the skull, which may have caused (or materially contributed to) the individual’s death. Isle of May: the partial remains of skeleton 959, an adult male, were found in a long cist, forming part of a cemetery thought to have been associated with an early Christian establishment pre-dating the medieval Augustinian Priory of May and Pittenweem (James and Yeoman 2008). The cist belongs to Period 1 of funerary activity there; cists containing females and children formed part of the same group of graves. St Roque’s Chapel cemetery, Borough Muir, Edinburgh: a chapel dedicated to St Roque (also known as St Roche), patron saint of plague victims, was in existence by 1507, when King James IV visited it, and it fell out of use during the Reformation (1540s). It was demolished in 1791. The Chapel’s burial ground is associated with victims of the plague, most or all of whom will have died during the early 16th century; the radiocarbon date obtained for the probably adult male is consistent with this. No trace of plague was detected but bacterial DNA of plague does not survive in petrous temporal bone. This individual’s remains were found, along with those of others, in 1954, during work associated with the Astley Ainslie Hospital (built in 1923). Other human remains had been found in the 1850s during work associated with the relocation of a house (Chambers 1854), and of these, two skulls were presented to the then-named National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (now National Museums Scotland; NMS X.ET 47 and 48).

Dates on human bone of early medieval date from the Parkburn Quarry cemetery, Lasswade, Midlothian

(Canmore ID 51697), commissioned and obtained for Sarah Semple’s People and Place in the Kingdom of Northumbria AD 300–800 project, University of Durham

Reg No, other identifier Material Lab No δ13C‰ δ15N‰ C/N ratio Radiocarbon age BP Calibrated date, 68.2% probability and [bold] 95.4% probability

Cist 29, NMS X.unReg; project sample ID: PP051 Human bone, rib fragment, female, adult, 25–35 yo (ID by AB) SUERC-86243 (GU51011) -20.9 11.4 3.2 1496±34 cal AD 541–610

cal AD 432–643

Cist 79, NMS X.unReg; project sample ID: PP052 Human bone, rib fragment, possibly male, adult, 25–35 yo (ID by AB) SUERC-86244 (GU51012) -21.0 9.9 3 1589±34 cal AD 420–535

cal AD 399–545

Comment (JAS, SS, AB and A Millard): This project has focused on obtaining new osteological, palaeopathological, isotopic and radiocarbon data on a subset of the 5000+ individuals who were buried, between cAD 300 and AD 800, between the Humber and the Firth of Forth – including those buried at the cemetery at Parkburn Quarry, Lasswade (Henshall 1956; 1966; Wells 1957). As such it overlaps with, and complements, the osteological doctoral research undertaken by Dr Angela Boyle on individuals in SE Scotland, cAD 400–800 (‘Cowboys and Indians? A Biocultural Study of Violence and Conflict in South-East Scotland, cAD 400 to cAD 800’ , University of Edinburgh, 2020). The dates obtained from the People and Place project complement, and are consistent with, the five other dates for individuals from the Parkburn Quarry cemetery that had been obtained previously for NMS, and which are reported on in DES 11 (namely those from Cist 8a, 8b, 27, 63 and the cist excavated in 1962).

Date on an adult female skull from Kirk Hill cemetery, St Andrews, Fife (Canmore 34323), obtained for Prof Stewart T Cole, commissioned by Institut Pasteur, Paris

Reg No, other identifier Material Lab No δ13C‰ δ15N‰ C/N ratio Radiocarbon age BP Calibrated date, 68.2% probability and [bold] 95.4% probability

NMS X.unReg, SK275.A (Cole project no TU940) Human bone (L petrous temporal, female, adult) SUERC-91431 (GU54472) -20.0 11.3 3.4 940±25 cal AD 1036–1151

cal AD 1030–1155

Comment (STC, CR, AM and JAS): Kirk Hill is an early medieval inhumation cemetery, associated with St Mary’s Church (formerly known as the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Rock: Canmore ID: 34358) on the coast at St Andrews. A rescue excavation, undertaken in 1980–81 in response to the erosion of the cemetery into the sea, uncovered the remains of over 300 individuals (Wordsworth and Clark 1997). Skull SK 275A, from an adult female, was found resting on the torso of an unrelated individual, SK 275, and it had clearly been redeposited among the earliest layers of graves, which had previously been radiocarbon-dated as early as the seventh century AD (ibid). The date obtained for SK 275A suggests a high level of disturbance from centuries of intercutting graves.

The skull had previously attracted attention as constituting rare early evidence for leprosy in Scotland, the relevant osteological features having been identified by Dr Dorothy Lunt (Lunt 2013). Analysis of DNA from a sample taken from the skull by a team led by

STC in 2018–20 confirmed that this woman had indeed suffered from leprosy, with DNA from Mycobacterium leprae being present.

The earliest reference to the existence of a hospital in St Andrews dates to the second quarter of the twelfth century (ibid, 310), but from 1178 there are references to a leper hospital at St Nicholas, to the south of the medieval city (Canmore ID: 34312). The occurrence of other chronic illness in the Kirk Hill cemetery may suggest that this was associated with an early hospital site, but the mixed population of men, women and children is otherwise that of a general lay burial ground. This new dating evidence indicates that even as late as the twelfth century, victims of leprosy were not yet segregated from the general population, at least in death.

The research into leprosy undertaken by SC also included DNA analysis of dentine and of a fragment of nasal septum bone from an Early Bronze Age individual from Dryburn Bridge, East Lothian (cist 2, burial 11: sub-adult, aged 6–8: for details, see Dunwell 2007, 26 and Sheridan et al 2018, 10). The results were, however, inconclusive.

Dates obtained by Dr Jessica Bownes for her doctoral research, ‘Reassessing the Scottish Mesolithic–Neolithic transition: questions of diet and chronology’ (University of Glasgow, 2018)

Findspot, (Canmore ID), Reg No, other identifier Material Lab No δ13C‰ δ15N‰ C/N ratio Radiocarbon age BP Calibrated date, 68.2% probability and [bold] 95.4% probability*

Cnoc Coig, Oronsay (37818), NMS X.EZ 1.39 (X.2019.56.39), CC18143, Bone Group 4, location 4, SW area of site; sample J14; Wellcome DNA CnocCoig_1, SB514B2/I3065, SB514B3/I6763 Human bone (R petrous temporal, female, adult) i) SUERC-69249 (GU41836) ii) SUERC-67276 (GU40827) i) -12.8 ii) -13.1 i)16.6 ii) 16.1 i) 3.3 ii) 3.4 i) 5492±36 ii) 5619±31 i) 4366–4270 cal BC

4448–4262 cal BC

4236–3769 cal BC ii) 4491–4374 cal BC

4517–4363 cal BC

4333–3943 cal BC

Loch Borralie (Borralaidh) Cave, Keoldale, Durness, Highland (Sutherland) (no Canmore ID; Highland HER MHG55844), NMS Z.unReg Wildcat (felis sylvestris) bone SUERC-57754 (GU36227)

Loch Borralie (Borralaidh) Cave (as above) NMS X.unReg Human bone (clavicle, no ID of age or sex) SUERC-57756 (GU36229)

Loch Borralie (Borralaidh) Cave (as above), NMS X.unReg Human bone (humerus, no ID of age or sex) SUERC-57755 (GU36228) -18.1 9.3 3.3 2913±30 1191–1046 cal BC

1209–1014 cal BC

-19.7 9.7 3.3 4875±32 3694–3640 cal BC

3710–3543 cal BC

3653–3524 cal BC -20.7 9.3 3.3 4743±31 3632–3388 cal BC

3636–3380 cal BC

3628–3371 cal BC

Tulloch of Assery B, Highland (Caithness)(7907), NMS X.unReg, LC/TAB/58, GENSCOT05, I2633 Human bone (L petrous temporal, female, adult) SUERC-68634 (GU41550) -21.6 9.8 3.1 4911±32 3703–3655 cal BC

3766–3642 cal BC

3766–3531 cal BC

Tulach an t’Sionnaich, Highland (Caithness)(7901), NMS X.unReg, LCC/TS/50 (‘the larger individual’), GENSCOT06, I2634 Human bone (L petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-68638 (GU41551) -21.1 10.1 3.3 4851±34 3693–3542 cal BC

3704–3535 cal BC

3695–3383 cal BC

Tulloch of Assery A, Highland (Caithness)(7934), NMS X.unReg, LC/TAA/25b-10, GENSCOT07, I2635 Human bone (L petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-68639 (GU41552) -21.1 10.1 3.2 4796±37 3641–3530 cal BC

3653–3390 cal BC

3640–3376 cal BC

Holm of Papa Westray North, Orkney (3243), NMS X.unReg, Comp 3E3 sample 1, box 4 of 8, GENSCOT10, I2650 Human bone (L petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-68642 (GU41555)

Holm of Papa Westray North, Orkney (3243), NMS X.unReg, N 1982, Tr 1Comp2(W)2, GENSCOT09, I2637 Human bone (R petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-68641 (GU41554) -18.4 10.8 3.3 4754±36 3633–3520 cal BC

3639–3381 cal BC

3627–3369 cal BC

-19.2 10.5 3.1 4697±33 3619–3377 cal BC

3630–3371 cal BC

3514–3360 cal BC

Holm of Papa Westray North, Orkney (3243), NMS X.unReg, N 1982, Tr 1, Comp2[W]2, GENSCOT08, I2636 Human bone (R petrous temporal, female, adult) SUERC-68640 (GU41553) -20.9 9.9 3.3 4651±33 3502–3368 cal BC

3520–3362 cal BC

3512–3344 cal BC

Holm of Papa Westray North, Orkney (3243), NMS X.unReg, Comp 3E3 sample 2, box 4 of 8, GENSCOT11, I2651 Human bone (L petrous temporal, female, adult) SUERC-68643 (GU41556) -19.8 11.1 3.3 4525±36 3353–3115 cal BC

3353–3099 cal BC

3340–3029 cal BC

Raschoille Cave, Oban, Argyll and Bute (22924), NMS X. unReg, ORC III 13.18, sample J5, Wellcome Raschoille_1, SB 513A2/I3041 Human bone (petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-67261 (GU40818)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC III 15.13, sample J6, Wellcome Raschoille_2, SB525A2 Human bone (L petrous temporal, female, adult(?)) SUERC-67265 (GU40819)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC IV 34.8, sample J7, Wellcome Raschoille_3, SB526A Human bone (R petrous temporal, possibly female, adult) SUERC-67266 (GU40820)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC II 95.2, sample J8, Wellcome Raschoille_4, SB528A2/I5371 Human bone (R petrous temporal, female, indeterminate age) SUERC-67267 (GU40821)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC III 12.10, sample J9, Wellcome Raschoille_5, SB527A1/ I5370 Human bone (L petrous temporal, female, prob. adult) SUERC-67268 (GU40822)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC I 2, sample J10

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC I 2, sample J11 Human bone (R petrous temporal, adult) Human bone (L petrous temporal, adult)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC I 2, sample J12 Human bone (R petrous temporal, subadult) SUERC-67271 (GU40825)

Raschoille Cave (as above), ORC III 31.32, sample J13 Human bone (R petrous temporal, subadult) SUERC-67275 (GU40826)

Embo, Highland (Sutherland) (15376), NMS X.unReg sample 4, from bag labelled ‘Chamber I, Ch II a-c+b,Sk ‘h’’ (bone from Ch I), sample J3, Wellcome Embo_2, SB516A3/I6765 Human bone (L petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-67259 (GU40816) -21.9 8.4 3.5 4550±29 3363–3127 cal BC

3369–3105 cal BC

3357–3097 cal BC

-21.7 7.7 3.3 4738±31 3632–3385 cal BC

3635–3379 cal BC

3633–3372 cal BC

-21.6 7.7 3.3 4817±31 3648–3631 cal BC

3656–3524 cal BC

3654–3386 cal BC

-22.1 8.8 3.3 4490±29 3332–3102 cal BC

3347–3091 cal BC

3341–2944 cal BC

-21.5 9.2 3.3 4499±29 3335–3106 cal BC

3346–3097 cal BC

3337–2941 cal BC

SUERC-67269 (GU40823) -21.9 9.5 3.3 4668±29 3514–3372 cal BC

3619–3367 cal BC

3627–3130 cal BC

SUERC-67270 (GU-40824) -22.3 10.2 3.2 4432±31 3310–3012 cal BC

3328–2927 cal BC

3310–2891 cal BC

-22.4 10.4 3.3 4731±29 3630–3384 cal BC

3635–3377 cal BC

3630–3350 cal BC

-22.2 9.3 3.3 4638±31 3498–3366 cal BC

3517–3357 cal BC

3516–3120 cal BC

-21.6 11.0 3.3 4403±31 3089–2931 cal BC

3264–2916 cal BC

3263–2877 cal BC

Quoyness, Orkney (3395), NMS X.unReg, from chamber, GENSCOT03, I2631 Human bone (L petrous temporal, male, adult) SUERC-68633 (GU41549) -20.1 12.4 3.3 4384±36 3079–2924 cal BC

3098–2907 cal BC

3016–2869 cal BC

Quoyness, Orkney (3395), NMS X.unReg, G 082, sample J4 Human bone (tibia, adult) SUERC-67260 (GU40817)

-20.4 10.8 3.3 4567±31 3370–3132 cal BC

3493–3108 cal BC

3347–3101 cal BC * Date ranges in italics are Bownes’ recalibrated versions using a mixed marine/terrestrial calibration curve. The Cnoc Coig dates were calibrated using a marine calibration curve (Marine13) as the individual’s diet was effectively 100% marine.

Comment (JMB and JAS): The doctoral research for which these dates were obtained (Bownes 2018) investigated dietary changes between the Mesolithic hunter-fisher-foragers and the Neolithic farmers of Scotland through isotopic analysis of collagen from human bones, set against background ancient and modern isotopic data for terrestrial and marine fauna from the areas in question,

as far as possible. Using the Bayesian marine/terrestrial mixing model, ‘FRUITS’, dates were recalibrated to take into account even minor elements of marine protein in the diet. The research concluded that there had been a chronological overlap between the first appearance of the farming way of life and the end of the Mesolithic lifestyle.

Many of the individuals who were dated were also the subject of DNA analysis (as indicated by sample numbers with the ‘I’ prefix and by references to Ian Armit’s GENSCOT project (Olalde et al 2018) and to the Wellcome Trust-funded project undertaken by the Natural History Museum with University College London (Brace et al 2019; see also Sheridan et al 2018 for a list of Scottish individuals subjected to DNA analysis)). The female petrous temporal from Cnoc Coig was dated twice by the SUERC laboratory.

The significance of the dates obtained for individuals from chamber tombs (namely Tulloch of Assery A and B, Tulach an t’Sionnaich, Holm of Papa Westray North, Embo and Quoyness), and also of those obtained for people buried in Raschoille Cave, has been discussed by Sheridan and Schulting (2020), so will not be repeated here. It should be noted, however, that the dated individual from the passage tomb at Embo had originally been believed to be the same individual who was DNA-analysed and dated for the COMMIOS project above (i.e. ‘skeleton ‘h’’, according to the osteologist R.G. Inkster: Henshall and Ritchie 1995, Appendix 2). However, DNA analysis of the two petrous parts of the temporal bone from ‘skeleton ‘h’’ has demonstrated that they did not belong to the same person, and the difference between the dates bears this out.

Finally, the dates for wildcat and human bones from the cave at Keoldale near Loch Borralie demonstrate that there was no association between these species, even though they were all found within a single stratigraphic unit (Bownes 2018, 55, 170–4). The seventh-millennium cal BC date obtained for a lynx bone from the same cave (SUERC-44164) corroborates this. The remains were discovered by caver Colin Coventry in 1992, and have not been published. The similarity in date and isotopic values for the two human bones suggests that they may be from a single individual. These dates offer a valuable addition to the corpus of human remains dates from Scottish caves, and clearly further research is required to determine whether just one person’s remains are present in the cave.

Dates from human and animal remains from Strath Glebe chamber tomb, Skye (Canmore 365436), obtained for Drs Ceiridwen J Edwards and Katharina Dulias, and for Rita Monteiro, Archaeogenetics Research Group (ARG), University of Huddersfield

Identifier Material Lab No δ13C‰ δ15N‰ C/N ratio Radiocarbon age BP Calibrated date**, 68.2% probability and [bold] 95.4% probability

2015, Site 2, Trench 1, Context 1 (N4), Feature B, Find 51; DNA sample KD027 Human tooth, molar, dentine from root (male, indeterminate age)

2017, Site 2, Trench 2, Context 5, Find 119; DNA sample RM061 Animal bone, cattle, metacarpal, (male, juvenile) OxA-37513 -21.00* 11.20* 3.2* 4569±35 3484–3127 cal BC

3495–3104 cal BC

UBA-43724 -22.4 4.5 3.19 2974±35 1258–1128 cal BC

1368–1056 cal BC

* The δ13C‰ and δ15N‰ results and the C:N ratio for the human sample were not generated by the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit but by PWD, as part of a stable isotopic study of eight human teeth from Strath Glebe. ** The dates were calibrated using OxCal v4.4.

Comment (CJE, KD, RM, PWD and JAS): The monument at Strath Glebe is a small, single-chamber megalithic structure (Wildgoose and Kozikowski 2018). It was excavated between 2015 and 2020 by the late George Kozikowski and Martin Wildgoose and was found to contain mostly disturbed deposits of relatively well-preserved unburnt human remains, along with a small assemblage of Neolithic pottery, lithics including four leaf-shaped arrowheads, a ‘monster bead’ of blackish stone, a large marine ivory bead and limpet shell beads. Individually positioned cattle bones were found in the ‘forecourt’ area.

Eight human teeth were sent to CJE from George Kozikowski for DNA analysis, which was undertaken by KD as part of her doctoral research on ‘Archaeogenetics and Palaeogenetics of the British Isles’ (Dulias 2019). The teeth were then passed to PWD for dietary stable isotopic analysis. An overview of the DNA results has been published in the online supplement to DES 19 (Sheridan et al 2018). The tooth that was dated as part of that project is DNA sample KD027; it was sexed as male on the basis of DNA. It was one of a cluster of 15 teeth and one leg bone found in a shallow scoop in the lowest stratigraphic position at the back of the chamber.

In addition, four juvenile cattle bones from the forecourt area of the monument were sent to CJE by George Kozikowski for DNA analysis and dating. The DNA analysis was undertaken by RM as part of her ongoing doctoral research on ‘Archaeogenetics and Palaeogenetics of Cattle Domestication in North-West Europe’ (due to be submitted in Spring 2020). The DNA results showed that all of the tested bones were from the same individual, and that its sex was male. This suggests that all of the cattle elements found on the forecourt area were from a single bullock. The Middle Bronze Age date for the metacarpal (sample RM061) makes it clear that this was a secondary deposit, post-dating the Middle Neolithic use of the monument by around two millennia.

Both dates were funded by The Leverhulme Trust, as part of a doctoral training programme awarded to Prof Martin Richards of the ARG at the University of Huddersfield.

Note: six further dates and DNA results for Strath Glebe, obtained from human remains (all petrous parts of the temporal bone), are due to be produced in 2021 as part of a £1.7 million pound, Wellcome Trust-funded project at the Skoglund Laboratory, Crick Institute, which is studying 1000 ancient British genomes. It is hoped to report on these dates in next year’s NMS round-up in DES.

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