Researchers at the University of Aberdeen are set to embark on a new project that will shed new light on the people buried in the prehistoric graves of the North-East of Scotland.
The University has received a funding boost of over £70,000 from the Leverhulme Trust, which will allow analysis of 4000-year-old skeletons and detailed research into the grave goods that accompanied many of them.
The prehistory of the North-East of Scotland at this period has one of the major concentrations of distinctive high quality beaker pots in the British Isles - a renowned style of stone circle and the flourishing of an early centre of metal-working. This period has been seen as a critical point of transition in prehistory, and this project will enable a regional study of an area of European significance using recently developed techniques.
The collections of beakers and associated skeletons in the University’s Marischal Museum are among the most important in the UK and are the principal collection for the North-East. They will be the main focus of this project, which will also study those in the National Museums of Scotland and local museums throughout eastern Scotland.
Neil Curtis, Senior Curator at Marischal Museum, who will be leading the research project, said: “These collections are the result of discoveries by farmers and quarrymen since the early mid 19th century. Since then they have been studied by a number of scholars including the museum’s curator, Professor Robert Reid, a century ago.
“Using new techniques we can now answer questions that he would have thought to be impossible.”
The other members of the research team are Margot Wright and Dr Meg Hutchison of Marischal Museum, with Dr Alison Sheridan of the National Museums of Scotland.
Marischal Museum is also an active partner in the recent AHRC-funded Beaker People project led by Professor Mike Parker Pearson, of the University of Sheffield, which saw some of the skeletons travelling from Aberdeen to Sheffield to be analysed in a project which is investigating the diet and mobility of people at this time. The North-East was the first area to be studied, largely because of the size of the Marischal Museum collection and its quality of preservation and documentation.
However, this week’s announcement will enable researchers to examine many more beakers and skeletons in finer detail and create the best-studied regional group in Europe.
Alongside the study of archives associated with the beakers and skeletons, which record much information about the location and organisation of burials, the team will also use Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dates that are both accurate and require a very small sample of bone. This will enable them to investigate questions such as whether the different styles of beaker relate to chronological sequences or whether factors such as the gender or age of the person with which they were buried were more significant. The study of the stable isotopes in teeth will also enable the study of differences in diet and whether these relate to differences in the date and style of burials.
“This regional study will immediately contribute to a nationally important area of research through close collaboration with the National Museums of Scotland and the Beaker People Project. It will also lead to much better documentation of the University’s collection and so to improved public exhibitions and resources for students”, said Neil.
Marischal Museum is located in Marischal College in the centre of Aberdeen. The museum is open Monday to Friday, 10am – 5pm and Sunday 2pm – 5pm. Entry to the museum is free. For further information on the museum, log on to: www.abdn.ac.uk/marischalmuseum