Jill Harden is a reserves archaeologist with RSPB Scotland and was involved with the excavation of 3,000 year old bronze weapons on our Isle of Coll nature reserve in 2015. Kilmartin Museum is now running a crowd-funding campaign to conserve these finds and put them on display for future generations to learn from. Found out more here.
RSPB Scotland’s nature reserve on the Isle of Coll is renowned for its sweeping machair habitat, shell-white beaches and of course, for the wildlife that lives there. Visitors can listen out for the distinctive rasping call of the elusive corncrake in summer and watch large flocks of geese arrive in winter. However, did you know that the island also contains some interesting archaeological and historical sites?
The Totronald standing stones were erected around 4,000 years ago.
Back in 2015, I was one of a group of archaeologists that uncovered a collection of prehistoric bronze weapons buried on our reserve on Coll. In total, the team excavated 13 objects from the ground – component parts of at least seven separate weapons that we know to be about 3,000 years old.
We recovered all of the items from what was probably once a freshwater loch and none of them were intact, for example the haul included broken sword blades and snapped spearheads. It seems as though the weapons had been purposefully broken and cast into the water – we know ceremonies used to take place like this in the Bronze Age with offerings being made to the gods and goddesses of the time.
Discoveries like this one provide rare and exciting opportunities to learn more about what life was like in different parts of Scotland thousands of years ago; what the landscape was like, how people lived and also how all of this has changed over time.
Recording the archaeological work on Coll.
The archaeological dig on Coll was carried out by the Treasure Trove Unit, National Museums Scotland and RSPB Scotland and once the weapons were successfully excavated, they were allocated to Kilmartin Museum in Argyll for ongoing conservation and care. Kilmartin is the closest museum to the Isle of Coll.
A complete spearhead encrusted with sand which will be removed as part of the conservation process.
Prehistoric bronze is very fragile and the fact that it survived for 3,000 years buried in sandy-silts is quite remarkable. What’s important now is to ensure that the weapon fragments are preserved properly to prevent further decay and to allow them to be displayed for future generations to see and learn from.
Kilmartin Museum has recently launched a crowd-funding initiative to raise the money needed to undertake this work and we at RSPB Scotland would love to see that succeed. If you would like to donate to the cause or you would simply like to find out more about it, click here.