Scanned image of a watercolour drawing of a bone object recovered during Sir Francis Tress Barry's excavations at Keiss broch.
SC 876632
Description Scanned image of a watercolour drawing of a bone object recovered during Sir Francis Tress Barry's excavations at Keiss broch.
Date c. 1890 to 1893
Collection Papers of John Nicolson, antiquarian, Keiss, Caithness, Scotland
Catalogue Number SC 876632
Category On-line Digital Images
Scope and Content Watercolour of bone point from Keiss broch, Caithness, Highland Keiss broch lies on a beach within Sinclair's Bay, north-east Caithness. The site was one of several excavated by Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907) who bought the Keiss estate in 1881 and lived at Keiss Castle a few hundred metres from the broch. Between 1890-1904, Barry excavated around 14 brochs. The watercolour shows an animal bone, possibly a bovine left ulna, which has been shaped to a point or awl. The object, common on many broch sites, may have been used to punch holes in leather during the manufacture of leather goods. 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. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
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Attribution: © Courtesy of HES (John Nicolson Collection)
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