Cladh Hallan
| Cladh Hallan | |
|---|---|
 Remains of roundhouses at Cladh Hallan | |
  Location within South Uist | |
| 57°10′16″N 7°24′27″W / 57.17116°N 7.40759°W | |
| Periods | Bronze Age |
| Location | South Uist |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | Yes |
Cladh Hallan (Scottish Gaelic: Cladh Hàlainn, Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʰl̪ˠɤɣ ˈhaːl̪ˠɪɲ]) is an archaeological site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.[1][2][3] It is significant as the only place in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found.[4][5][6] Excavations were carried out there between 1988 and 2002, which indicate the site was occupied from 2000 BC.[7][3]
Discovery
Archaeological excavations at Cladh Hallan began in 1988.[1] Over the next 14 years, archaeologists working on the South Uist Archaeological Project uncovered preserved floors, walls, middens and outdoor surfaces. Beneath these layers, they found traces of earlier ploughed fields, a Bronze Age burial ground and evidence of earlier occupation.[1]
Roundhouses
The settlement included a north–south row of three adjoining roundhouses constructed between 1080 and 1020 BCE. The buildings shared walls, each contained a central hearth, and preserved floor surfaces, sleeping areas, entrances, yards and evidence of repeated rebuilding survived.[1]
Human remains
blue: male c. 1600 BC
yellow: male c. 1500-1400 BC
red: male c. 1440-1360 BC
Near the end of the excavations in 2001, archaeologists believed they had found the remains of four individuals beneath the floors of the Bronze Age roundhouses: two adults and two children.[1][3]
The adult skeletons were identified as a man and a woman from their skeletal characteristics. The children consisted of a crouched burial estimated to have been between 10 and 14 years old and the largely disarticulated remains of a younger child aged about 18 months to three years.[1][3]
Because the soft tissue had decomposed, the remains appeared to be ordinary skeletons rather than deliberately preserved bodies. The burials were initially interpreted as representing four individuals who had lived and died during the occupation of the settlement.[1]
Condition and preservation
The Cladh Hallan skeletons differ from most bog bodies in two respects: unlike most bog bodies, they appear to have been put in the bog for the express purpose of preservation (whereas most bog bodies were simply interred in the bog), and unlike most bog bodies, their soft tissue was no longer preserved at the time of discovery.
The high level of the calcareous sand in Cladh Hallan and the Scottish Highlands had been attributed in part to the preservation of the mummies over thousands of years.[1]
Osteological analysis
After the 2001 excavation, researchers examined the physical characteristics of the bones using osteological analysis. One adult skeleton, initially identified as female, contained conflicting features: the pelvis was consistent with an adult female, while the skull and mandible had characteristics more typical of an adult male.[8]
The differences suggested that bones from several people might have been combined. Osteological examination, radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis could not resolve the question, leading researchers to compare individual bones using ancient DNA.[8]
Ancient DNA analysis
In 2012, researchers used ancient DNA analysis to investigate the adult skeleton that had been identified as female. Earlier examination of the bones had produced conflicting results. The pelvis was consistent with an adult female, while the skull and mandible had characteristics more typical of an adult male. Radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis could not determine whether the bones belonged to one person or several.[8]
To answer that question, researchers removed small samples from the skull, mandible, right humerus and right femur. DNA was extracted from a molar in the mandible and from the other bone samples under laboratory conditions designed to minimise modern contamination.[8]
The team analysed mitochondrial DNA because it is more likely than nuclear DNA to survive in ancient remains. After excluding DNA sequences likely to represent contamination, they compared the genetic profiles recovered from each bone.[8]
The analysis showed that the mandible, humerus and femur each came from different individuals. Too little DNA was recovered from the skull to determine whether it belonged to one of those individuals or to a fourth person. The study showed that the skeleton was a composite assembled from the remains of multiple people, although the total number of individuals represented could not be determined.[8]
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating showed that the adult male and female died several centuries before they were buried beneath the floors of the Bronze Age roundhouses. The male died around 1600 BCE and the female around 1300 BCE, but neither was buried until approximately 1120 BCE.[8][1] This meant that the male's remains were kept for about 500 years, while the female's were kept for roughly 180 years before their final burial. Such a long interval between death and burial indicated that the bodies had not been interred immediately after death.[8][1]
Combined with evidence of limited demineralisation of the outer layers of the bones, the radiocarbon dates supported the conclusion that the bodies had been placed in a peat bog for approximately 6 to 18 months shortly after death.[1][9] They were then recovered from the bog and kept for generations before being buried beneath the houses.[1][9]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Parker Pearson, Mike; Mulville, Jacqui; Smith, Helen; Marshall, Peter; Booth, Tom; Brennand, Mark; Chamberlain, Andrew; Cook, Gordon; Craig, Oliver; de Luis, Irene; Evans, Jane; French, Charles; Hale, Alexandra; Hamlet, Laura; Hiller Bardsley, Jen; Manley, Harry; Montgomery, Janet; Moth, Edwin; Parsons, Vicky; Peto, Jessica; Rhodes, Shaun; Schwenninger, Jean-Luc; Simpson, Ian; Willis, Christie (2021). Cladh Hallan: roundhouses and the dead in the hebridean bronze age and iron age (Hardback ed.). Philadelphia: Oxbow Books. pp. 1–25. doi:10.2307/j.ctv24q4zc4.7. ISBN 978-1789256932. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ↑ Pearson, Michael Parker (2012). From Machair to Mountains: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in South Uist. Oxbow Books. hdl:20.500.12657/53457. ISBN 9781789258875.
- 1 2 3 4 "Bronze Age Case Study: Cladh Hallan". Scottish Archaeological Research Framework. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ Booth, Thomas J.; Chamberlain, Andrew T.; Pearson, Mike Parker (2015). "Mummification in Bronze Age Britain". Antiquity. 89 (347): 1155–1173. doi:10.15184/aqy.2015.111. S2CID 161304254.
- ↑ "The Cladh Hallan prehistoric mummies". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ "Bronze Age Britons mummified their dead". BBC News. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ Pearson, Mike Parker; Mulville, Jacqui; Smith, Helen; Marshall, Peter (2021). Cladh Hallan: Roundhouses and the Dead in the Hebridean Bronze Age and Iron Age. Part I: Stratigraphy, Spatial Organisation and Chronology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781789256963.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hanna, Jayd; Bouwman, Abigail S.; Brown, Keri A.; Parker Pearson, Mike; Brown, Terence A. (1 August 2012). "Ancient DNA typing shows that a Bronze Age mummy is a composite of different skeletons". Journal of Archaeological Science. 39 (8): 2774–2779. Bibcode:2012JArSc..39.2774H. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.030. ISSN 0305-4403.
- 1 2 "Solved: the mystery of Britain's Bronze Age mummies". The Conversation. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
Further reading
- Parker Pearson, Michael; et al. (2004). South Uist: Archaeology and History of a Hebridean Island. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2905-1.
External links
- grid reference NF7308121962
- South Uist, Cladh Hallan Roundhouses Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland