Bronze-Age Beaker
West Highland Museum
This special Bronze Age object dates to the Beaker Period, around 4,000 years ago. This period takes its name from the number of distinctive beakers found. This one was in a gravel knoll above the Nether Lochaber Hotel in Corran, near Fort William, in the winter of 1889.
During the Victorian period, there was significant development in the discipline of archaeology. Archaeologists began to use trowels and were even able to date sites using stratigraphy.
Archaeologists had observed that, once excavated, objects could disintegrate as they dried out. To prevent this from happening, this beaker was immersed in water to prevent disintegration. Unfortunately, it promptly fell to pieces in the liquid and had to be painstakingly reconstructed by the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. Repairs were made using plaster of Paris.
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Date: 2000 BCE
Materials : Pottery
Size : 11cm
Associated Activity