Object of the Week: A 5,000-year-old figurine which curators thought was lost forever in Orkney

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

This Neolithic human figurine was found at Skara Brae, in Orkney, in the 1860s. But it was only recently rediscovered during a search of the collections at Skaill House

A photo of a small Neolithic human figurine found at Skara Brae in Orkney© Stromness Museum / Rebecca Marr
Skaill is a 17th century mansion with collections donated to the museum during the 1930s. It has instantly become a jewel in the collection.

“Amazingly, we found it in the last box of the day,” says Dr David Clarke, who identified the 5,000-year-old figurine, carved from whalebone and measuring 9.5cm by 7.5cm.

A photo of a small Neolithic human figurine found at Skara Brae in Orkney© Stromness Museum / Hugo Anderson-Whymark
“I’ve always thought this figurine to be lost forever so seeing it staring back at me from its bed of tissue paper was completely unexpected and very exciting.”

It was originally discovered by William G Watt, the local laird, when he was excavating a stone bed compartment in House 3 of the Neolithic village.

A photo of a small Neolithic human figurine found at Skara Brae in Orkney© Stromness Museum / Hugo Anderson-Whymark
Eyes and a mouth have been cut in the face and the body has a navel, but is otherwise unadorned. Holes through the head and body may have been used to suspend it.

Watt’s find was briefly described as a ‘idol’ or ‘fetish’ in a report of discoveries at Skara Brae by the antiquarian George Petrie in 1867, but was otherwise only known by a sketch in Petrie’s notebooks, now held in the manuscripts of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

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More Objects of the Week from Culture24

A Bronze Age man's pot found in a deep burial pit in Worcestershire

A colossal Chinese Buddha statue which has just gone on display at the British Museum

Fertility figures from an ancient civilization in Bronze Age Pakistan and India


Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art557555-neolithic-figurine-skara-brae-orkney-skaill


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