3.4.7.3 Organic Materials

Artefacts of wood, bone and antler are rarely found in mainland Scotland and this is also the case in Perth and Kinross. However, a fine collection of calcined bone ‘skewer’ pins was found in association with cremated remains in the Late Neolithic Forteviot cemetery (MPK1888; Leach et al 2020; Noble et al 2017). These survived because they had passed through the funeral pyre, having been used to fasten funerary garments.

Fragments of calcined bone ‘skewer pins’ from the cemetery at Forteviot ©️ Brophy and Noble 2020.

Carbonised wooden fragments found in association with the four-post building at Leadketty (MPK1977) are still being analysed and are anticipated to be reported as part of SERF Monograph 3 (Wright and Brophy forthcoming); it remains to be seen whether they were structural or artefactual.