Buzz
Archaeologists uncovering a site on the Scottish island of Rousay have found two stone anvils believed to be over 1000 years old—one of which still holds the handprints of the copper smith who likely used it, reports the BBC.
The find comes from an excavation by the Swandro-Orkney Coastal Archaeology Trust, which has been ongoing since 2010. (The site is located near the Bay of Swandro, known as the Knowe of Swandro, and Rousay is part of the Orkney Islands.)
Steve DockrillInitially, the researchers thought the handprint might have been left by one of them during the excavation of the anvils from the partially buried workshop. However, they later realized that the marks are actually hand and knee prints from the smith. The knee prints were likely made while the smith knelt beside the anvil and brushed against it repeatedly.
@SwandroOrkney the Pictish Smithy is down to foundations of the hearth and the floor. What a great story we have as a metal workshop with high zinc in the crucibles indicating casting brass.#hessupported#scotarchstrat@AntiquityJ @northernpicts @DigItScotland @HistoryScotland pic.twitter.com/UzdRyZcU18
— Eroding Archaeology (@ErodingArchaeo1) July 20, 2018
The structure has been identified as a Pictish building, dating from the 6th to 9th century CE. The Picts, a group of tribes that inhabited Scotland during the late Iron Age (around the 3rd century CE) into the Early Middle Ages, vanished around 1100 CE. Julie Bond, co-director of the excavation, told the BBC that she estimates the age of the prints to be between 1000 and 1500 years old.
The Swandro-Orkney Coastal Archaeology Trust is working to excavate and study the site before it succumbs to the rising sea levels and coastal erosion threatening the island.
