Scanned image of a drawing of five artefacts, including a bone comb, bone pin and a crucible from excavations by SIr Francis Tress Barry.

Description Scanned image of a drawing of five artefacts, including a bone comb, bone pin and a crucible from excavations by SIr Francis Tress Barry.

Date c. 1890 to 1920

Collection Papers of John Nicolson, antiquarian, Keiss, Caithness, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 876628

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Watercolour of bone and clay objects from brochs, Caithness, Highland There are a considerable number of brochs along the north-east coast of Caithness, many of which were investigated by Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907), the proprietor of the Keiss estate. Between 1890 and 1904, Barry spent his summer months excavating as many as 25 sites, including a number of brochs. This watercolour by John Nicolson (1843-1934) shows some of the objects discovered during Barry's excavation of a range of sites including Skirza, Whitegate and Keiss. At the top is a bone pin that would have been used for decoration and for fastening clothes. Below this is a bone weaving comb used in textile working (centre). The bottom row begins with a perforated tooth used as a mount. Beside it is a spoon (bottom centre) with notches that suggest that it may have once been intended as a weaving comb. To the right is a ceramic crucible used for melting bronze. Nicolson was born in Stemster, John O' Groats and lived at Nybster for most of his life. He was a skilled sculptor and artist with a keen interest in the archaeology of the area and assisted with many of Barry's excavations. Barry's investigations at Skirza, Whitegate and Keiss brochs took place between 1890 and 1897. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap