A 4,000-year-old collection of jet necklaces and bronze armlets buried together. Jet came from Yorkshire, bronze from Ireland. Even remote Highland communities participated in Bronze Age exchange networks.
An accidental discovery
In May 1900, workmen blasting a granite knoll near the west end of Loch Migdale in Sutherland, Scotland, uncovered a collection of metal and stone objects. Found within a rock crevice, the collection became known as the Migdale Hoard. Radiocarbon dating of a willow fragment found inside one of the bronze beads places the hoard between 2282 and 1787 BC.
The collection contains over 60 individual items. This includes two flat bronze axeheads, two sets of three bronze bangles, and a pair of ribbed bronze armlets or anklets. It also held more than 40 tubular sheet-bronze beads, five conical bronze mounts, and parts of a basket-shaped hair ornament. Alongside the metalwork were six V-perforated buttons made from cannel coal and jet. The objects were likely held in a bag that has since decomposed.
Bronze Age material science
The Migdale Hoard contains some of the earliest examples of tin-bronze metalworking in Britain. One of the two bronze axeheads is a specific design now known as a "Migdale-type" axe, a classification used by archaeologists for similar finds across Scotland. This particular axehead was coated in tin to give it a silvery appearance. The copper used to produce the bronze likely came from Ireland, while the tin probably originated in Cornwall or Devon.
Scientific analysis of the six buttons revealed that five are made from cannel coal, a type of coal that can be polished, while one is made from jet. Jet is a type of fossilized wood. The specific jet used for the Migdale button has been traced to sources near Whitby in Yorkshire, over 450 kilometers away. The designs of some jewelry pieces, such as the conical bronze mounts, are stylistically similar to items found in central Europe, particularly Bavaria. The presence of materials and stylistic influences from Ireland, England, and continental Europe in this single hoard indicates that this Highland community was part of an extensive trade and communication network 4,000 years ago.
💡Fun Facts
The distinctive design of the bronze axehead is so influential that archaeologists now refer to the "Migdale type" when classifying similar Early Bronze Age axes.
One of the axeheads was improved with tinning, a technique where a thin layer of tin is applied to the bronze surface to create a silvery finish.
The hoard was discovered in 1900 by workmen building a new road near Skibo Castle.
Some of the tubular bronze beads contained fragments of willow wood, one of which was used to accurately radiocarbon date the hoard.
The original findspot is on open land near Loch Migdale and is always accessible. The artifacts themselves are housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, which is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00.
Admission
Access to the findspot is free. Admission to the National Museum of Scotland is also free, though some special exhibitions may have a charge.
Accessibility
The terrain around Loch Migdale is moorland and may be uneven. The National Museum of Scotland is fully accessible.