Fragments of Iron Age textile found in loch go on show for first time
It is now on public display for the first time at the Scottish Crannog Centre's Iron Age village, visitor centre and museum, on the banks of Loch Tay.
The Scottish Crannog Centre is situated at Kenmore near Aberfeldy (Martin Shields/PA)
The textile was previously thought to be too fragile to go on show but it has now gone through a painstaking stabilisation and conservation process, funded by Museums Galleries Scotland.
It is on display from Wednesday and is being housed safely in a climate-controlled cabinet.
Mike Benson, director of the Scottish Crannog Centre, said: 'We are absolutely thrilled to be able to invite the public to come and see this amazing find.
'This piece would have been made by a whole community, from the shearing of the sheep, to the processing and dyeing of the wool, to the weaving of the textile.
'Our centre today is very much about community and the one thing that unites all of us is our common humanity through the ages.
'We're really looking forward to finding out what people make of this rare textile, which is part of our past but also a hugely important part of our present and future.
'We hope people will be drawn to see this exhibit, and the rest of our extensive collection, for years to come.'
The fabric, known as the Oakbank Textile, has been analysed by archaeologists at the University of Glasgow who have radiocarbon dated the material to between 480 and 390BC.
Dr Susanna Harris, senior lecturer in archaeology at the university, said: 'There are very few early textiles of this date and we think this is the first one of this type, of 2/1 twill, in Scotland.
'Wool was such an important material in Scotland, it's been exciting to analyse this piece.
'It's great that the Scottish Crannog Centre has taken this step. It's really important finds like this go on display. It may be a small piece of textile but it tells us a lot about the heritage of Scottish textiles.'
Crannogs were dwelling houses built on stilts or stone over water and usually had a bridge connecting them to the shore.
The first crannogs in Scotland were built on lochs from Neolithic times and very few are said to exist outside of Scotland and Ireland.
The centre's reconstructed crannog was destroyed in a fire in 2021.
Last year the Scottish Crannog Centre reopened to visitors on a new and enlarged site near Kenmore and the team are well on the way to completing a new crannog using sustainable and historical construction methods.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
6 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Experts make link between dental hygiene and school attendance
The report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health concluded that 'poor oral health was associated with higher absenteeism, with socioeconomic inequalities exacerbating the impact.' By analysing population-level data sets from 260,000 children across Scotland, the researchers found that those with tooth decay were absent for five extra half days on average when compared to their classmates with healthy teeth. Children in socioeconomically deprived areas of the country were also found to have experienced twice the number of absences as a result of poor oral health compared to children from the least deprived areas. David Conway, Professor of Dental Public Health at the University of Glasgow's Dental School, and co-Director of the Childsmile programme said: 'The findings support the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland Childsmile programme – especially supervised daily toothbrushing in nurseries and schools, which we have shown has driven child oral health improvement across Scotland. 'Childsmile is a credit to the collaboration between health and education teams – including the dedicated work of the nursery and school staff delivering supervised daily toothbrushing. 'Not only can supervised daily toothbrushing improve children's teeth it can potentially reduce school absences – giving both health and education benefits.' Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: 'I welcome these findings on our flagship Childsmile programme from the University of Glasgow. We have led the way with child oral health through our continued investment in this programme. 'The programme offers universal oral health interventions, such as supervised toothbrushing and fluoride varnish application to children and young people in nurseries, early years schooling and dental practices. 'There are also targeted interventions for children living in the most deprived areas. 'The success of Childsmile is reflected in the latest official stats on child oral health which show that 73% of P1 children have no obvious tooth decay, compared to 58% in 2008 – when the programme was first introduced.' Dr Mariel Goulart, Research Assistant at the University of Glasgow's Dental School and lead of the research said: 'Our study suggests there is a need to continue to address this area of public health in school children, with the research highlighting the need for integrating oral health initiatives within educational and public health policies to mitigate school absenteeism and address health inequalities.'
Scotsman
9 hours ago
- Scotsman
How these changes to Sitka spruce plantations could help improve biodiversity in Scotland
'Blocky mixes' are being put forward as an option according to a new report. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A new report has found how the most common conifer plantation can be managed in a more biodiversity-friendly way long-term. Sitka spruce dominates the forestry sector, with the non-native tree making up about half of Scottish woodlands. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There have been concerns the plantations are less resilient to disease, severe weather and longer-term climatic shifts. The visual impact of the 'serried ranks' on the landscape and the lack of species diversity under its dense canopy have also been noted as issues. Sitka spruce is the most common conifer in Scotland | JHI Diversification of woodlands is fairly common now, with the Scottish Government only allowing up to 65 per cent of one tree variety in a woodland to avoid climate and disease related problems. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There can be issues, however, with some native broadleaves being unable to grow long-term with Sitka. It is why some researchers have suggested planting natives in 'blocky mixes' among the plantations. A new paper from the DiversiTree project, a collaborative project aimed at increasing woodland resilience through greater tree species diversity, began the study identifying 564 species (12 birds, 147 bryophytes, 28 non-lichen-forming fungi, 123 invertebrates, 243 lichens and 11 mammals) which use the Sitka spruce for feeding or as a living space. However, many of these are non-specialists and can survive on a wide range of trees. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The authors then assessed 34 tree species which could be planted with Sitka spruce for their impacts on both biodiversity and ecosystem function. This included checking their leaf litter decomposition traits, influence on the soil and leaf litter chemistry, as well as their ability to grow alongside Sitka spruce, support Sitka spruce-associated species and nurture additional biodiversity. Authors said mixing Sitka forests with oak, sycamore, Scots pine, birch, beech and Norway spruce would provide the greatest biodiversity benefits, supporting both the species found on Sitka spruce and additional biodiversity not currently found in these forests. However, the study explained all these tree species, except sycamore, are unable to grow in the long-term when planted in mixtures with Sitka spruce. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This is when authors suggested 'blocky mixes' - small blocks of single tree species which connect the forest like a patchwork quilt. They claimed this would help diversify Sitka spruce plantations without major impact to timber production. The paper said more research is needed to decide the optimal size and arrangement of these 'blocks.' Dr Ruth Mitchell of JHI | JHI Dr Ruth Mitchell, a plant soil ecologist at the James Hutton Institute and the paper's lead author, said: 'As our forestry adapts to a changing climate and new tree pests and pathogens, it is crucial that we understand how this may impact forest associated biodiversity. 'This work shows how diversification of our Sitka spruce plantations with other tree species can bring many biodiversity benefits." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Forestry leaders insist Scotland needs to increase its timber production, often citing the UK being the second largest importer of timber products in the world.
STV News
15 hours ago
- STV News
Supervised toothbrushing in nurseries and schools 'helps to reduced absences'
A supervised toothbrushing scheme in Scottish nurseries and schools is improving children's oral health and could also be helping to keep them in class. Research by dental experts at the University of Glasgow has found that the Childsmile Supervised Daily Toothbrushing Programme not only reduces tooth decay but may also cut the number of school absences linked to dental problems. The evaluation, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, analysed population-level data from more than 260,000 children aged four to seven across Scotland. It found that children with tooth decay missed, on average, five more half-days of school each year than those with healthy teeth. Those needing emergency dental treatment or a general anaesthetic for extractions missed six or more extra half-days. Children living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas were almost twice as likely to have absences linked to poor oral health as their peers in the least deprived areas. Professor David Conway, co-director of Childsmile at the University of Glasgow's Dental School, said the findings showed the programme's dual benefits for health and education. 'Supervised daily toothbrushing improves children's teeth and can potentially reduce school absences – giving both health and education benefits,' he said. 'It's a credit to the collaboration between health and education teams, and to the nursery and school staff delivering it.' Since its introduction in 2008, Childsmile has offered universal interventions such as supervised brushing and fluoride varnish application, alongside targeted support for children in deprived areas. Official figures show the proportion of Primary 1 pupils with no obvious tooth decay has risen from 58% in 2008 to 73% in 2023. Public health minister Jenni Minto welcomed the study, calling Childsmile a 'flagship' programme. 'We have led the way with child oral health through our continued investment in this programme,' she said. 'It is delivering results for children and families across Scotland.' Lead author Dr Mariel Goulart said the study – the first of its kind to link oral health and attendance using national data – underlined the need to integrate dental initiatives into broader public health and education policy. The findings suggest that improving oral health could be an important step in tackling school absenteeism and reducing health inequalities in Scotland's children. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
