Archaeology News Online

In 1986, a long cist burial was dug up in Bridge of Tilt near Blair Atholl, where excavators discovered the skeleton of a man in his forties. Analysis at the time found the man was used to hard work, and lived around 340 to 615 AD, making this one of the earliest Pictish graves ever discovered. The digitally re-created Pictish man [Credit: GUARD Archaeology] Now, GUARD Archaeology in Glasgow and forensic artist Hayley Fisher have managed to digitally recreate the face of the Bridge of Tilt Pict which is now on display at Perth Museum and Art Gallery as part of their Picts and Pixels exhibition. Bob Will, the archaeologist leading this project, said: “The actual burial was found in the 1980s and a certain amount of work was done then. But various members of the local community and groups wanted to do more, so they got in touch to take the project forward and one thing they wanted was a facial reconstruction. That is what got the ball rolling on that one. “We then approached Historic Env...

Archaeologists from the University of Glasgow have uncovered conclusive radiocarbon evidence of a wooden hut on Iona dating back to the late 6th Century AD, believed to be that of St Columba when he worked at the monastery. Archaeologists have uncovered conclusive evidence that a wooden hut traditionally associated with St Columba  at his ancient monastery (ruins pictured) on the island of Iona dates to his lifetime in the late sixth century  [Credit: University of Glasgow] Radiocarbon tests show samples of charcoaled hazel unearthed from a site excavation 60 years ago, where it is believed Columba’s wooden hut was situated, date back to the exact period it is claimed Columba lived and worked at the monastery. The samples, excavated in 1957 by British archaeologist Professor Charles Thomas, have lain in a garage in Cornwall, preserved in matchboxes, until 2015 when a University of Glasgow team decided to follow up his research. The charcoal samples have now been radiocarbon da...

Some good scientific sleuthing by an undergraduate at The University of Texas at Austin has helped rewrite one of the earliest chapters in the planet's evolutionary history. The research, led by the UT Jackson School of Geosciences, has shown that the millipede thought to be the world's oldest known air-breathing land creature is in fact about 14 million years younger than previously thought and cannot be the original land breather. Examples of zircon grains used in a University of Texas at Austin study that showed the animal thought to be the oldest  land-based air breather is younger than thought. Grain numbers and ages are indicated by the numbers  [Credit: University of Texas Jackson School of Geosciences] The paper was published in the journal PLOS ONE . The study focuses on a species of millipede called Pneumodesmus newmani, which was thought to have been breathing air on solid ground during the late Silurian period some 428 million years ago. All other animal fossils di...

In 1986, a long cist burial was dug up in Bridge of Tilt near Blair Atholl, where excavators discovered the skeleton of a man in his forties. Analysis at the time found the man was used to hard work, and lived around 340 to 615 AD, making this one of the earliest Pictish graves ever discovered. The digitally re-created Pictish man [Credit: GUARD Archaeology] Now, GUARD Archaeology in Glasgow and forensic artist Hayley Fisher have managed to digitally recreate the face of the Bridge of Tilt Pict which is now on display at Perth Museum and Art Gallery as part of their Picts and Pixels exhibition. Bob Will, the archaeologist leading this project, said: “The actual burial was found in the 1980s and a certain amount of work was done then. But various members of the local community and groups wanted to do more, so they got in touch to take the project forward and one thing they wanted was a facial reconstruction. That is what got the ball rolling on that one. “We then approached Historic Env...

Archaeologists from the University of Glasgow have uncovered conclusive radiocarbon evidence of a wooden hut on Iona dating back to the late 6th Century AD, believed to be that of St Columba when he worked at the monastery. Archaeologists have uncovered conclusive evidence that a wooden hut traditionally associated with St Columba  at his ancient monastery (ruins pictured) on the island of Iona dates to his lifetime in the late sixth century  [Credit: University of Glasgow] Radiocarbon tests show samples of charcoaled hazel unearthed from a site excavation 60 years ago, where it is believed Columba’s wooden hut was situated, date back to the exact period it is claimed Columba lived and worked at the monastery. The samples, excavated in 1957 by British archaeologist Professor Charles Thomas, have lain in a garage in Cornwall, preserved in matchboxes, until 2015 when a University of Glasgow team decided to follow up his research. The charcoal samples have now been radiocarbon da...