Taxidermy OspreyGrantown Museum Fossil evidence shows that osprey had been in Scotland around twelve thousand years ago, at the start of the Mesolithic period. However, during the nineteenth century, this migratory bird was hunted to the point of extinction in Great...
MiddenWest Highland Museum Whoever knew rubbish could be so revealing? This Mesolithic midden, or Stone-Age rubbish heap, is able to provide archaeologists with an array of insights into past peoples. Middens can contain clues about past human diet, the environment,...
PotboilerGairloch Museum Potboilers are commonly found in Iron Age sites. They are usually smooth beach pebbles which have been used to heat water for a variety of purposes. The stones were heated in the fire and plunged into the cold water. Eventually, the dramatic...
Gold ArmletsWest Highland Museum This pair of late Bronze Age gold penannular armlets were found at Kilmallie, just outside Fort William. They are thought to be Irish in origin. How they came to be found in 1871 makes a fascinating story! A crofter dreamt that he...
Mesolithic HarpoonWest Highland Museum This object is made from bone and is over five thousand years old. Found by a school girl washed up on the beach near Arisaig, this harpoon would likely have been used by hunter-fisher-foragers walking the shores of Arisaig...
