Human remains at ancient Pictish cemetery on Orkney exposed by storms

The Scotsman, Tall and Handsome Built ^ | Monday, 2nd March 2020 | Alison Campsie

[SunkenCiv]

Archaeologists are now in a race against time to fully excavate and preserve the site at Newark on Orkney mainland which is being protected in the short term by sandbags.

The site is particularly vulnerable to the impact of south easterly winds with the ground, which is formed of soft boulder clay, now prone to landslides as it holds on to high volumes of rainwater...

In 2016 a Carved Pictish Type 2 stone was exposed and excavated by ORCA Archaeology.

It is believed that the cemetery could hold invaluable information about the little-understood transition between the Pictish era and the arrival of Vikings on Orkney.

Human remains which have fallen onto the beach will be collected and moved for safe keeping although the bones exposed in the boulder clay will remain until a full excavation can get underway.

By leaving them in place, archaeologists will get a far fuller picture of the cemetery and the burial rituals carried out there...

DNA analysis of the human remains will be carried out to determine the background of those buried there.

Newark was also once home to a 17th Century manor house which was also claimed by erosion of the coastline. The walls of a chapel at the cemetery site also existed, but the walls have now been partly destroyed by the advancing sea.

[SunkenCiv]

Volunteers work to secure the cemetery site at Newark on the Orkney mainland after storms exposed human remains. PIC: ORCA. Copyright: other

[SunkenCiv]

There's also a Twatt in the Shetlands.

Twatt, Orkney | The Ben Lomond Free Press

[SunkenCiv]

[aposiopetic]

I preferred the Pict pics.

[SunkenCiv]

Here we are in the Shetlands. It's getting nearer.

[SunkenCiv]

The Picts probably were the inspiration for the Blue Man Group.

[BenLurkin]

ibtpfr

[bigbob]

Ummagumma

[TigersEye]

That’s when I’m happiest! :)

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[SunkenCiv]

The pict/picts/pictish keywords, duplicates out, chrono sorted:

• A Newly Discovered Pictish Stone for Easter Ross [2019]
• Pictish skeleton found at 1,400-year-old Highland cemetery [2019]
• Druids [2019]
• Early Roman 'horseshoes' dug up from Vindolanda fort ditch [2018]
• Medieval games board found in search for Pictish monastery [Hnefatafl] [2018]
• Archaeologists return to site of 'lost Pictish monastery' [2018]
• Digital exploration of the Sculptor's Cave [Moray, Scotland] [2017]
• Roman Silver Hoard Discovered in Scotland [2016]
• So, Just How Good Are You At Puzzles? [2015]
• Unearthed: hoard of Roman and Pictish silver found in Aberdeenshire field [2014]
• 'Early Pictish Royal remains' discovered at Rhynie [2013]
• New excavations to find lost Pictish kingdom [2013]
• World's most mysterious buildings [2012]
• Discovery of early medieval royal stronghold in southwest Scotland [ the Picts ] [2012]
• Dig team find proof there were Picts on the Brough of Deerness before the Vikings [2011]
• Pictish beast intrigues Highland archaeologists [2011]
• Dunning Iron Age find shows Roman-Pictish link [2011]
• King Arthur's round table may have been found by archaeologists in Scotland [2011]
• Sex, Tweets, and Rock Hard Pols [2011]
• Michelle Obama Depicted As Chubby And Greedy In Republican Cartoon [Picts] [2011]
• Ancient language mystery deepens (Scotland) [2010]
• Gene Study Shows Ties Long Veiled in Europe [repost] [2010]
• English and Welsh are races apart DNA [2010]
• Fatal assaults 30 times higher among poor Scots than among most affluent [2010]
• New Written Language of Ancient Scotland Discovered [2010]
• How seat fit for a king has cast new light on Scotland's dark ages [2009]
• 'Hardwired' to create rock doodles; professor says ancient art was 'an instinct' [2009]
• Clues to ancient invasion in DNA [ Scotland, Ireland, Picts, Vikings ] [2009]
• Archaeologists may reveal millennium stone secrets [ Picts , St Orland's stone ] [2008]
• Ancient palace found in dig on hill[UK] [2008]
• Pictish stone found by gravedigger most significant in decade - expert[Shetland] [2008]
• Lasers Conserve Pictish Treasures [2008]
• Peoples Of Britain [2007]
• 'Lost' Coronation Abbey Unearthed (Robert The Bruce) [2007]
• Giant flood separates Britain from Europe [2007]
• The Sea Peoples [2006]
• We're nearly all Celts under the skin [In Great Britain] [2006]
• Scotland's Whirling Goddess or the Holy Grail? [2006]
• Ancient Welsh city found [2006]
• DNA Test Can Detect Picts' Descendants [2006]
• World Heritage bid hope for wall [ Antonine Wall in Scotland ] [2006]
• Shetland's past comes to life amid the ruins [2006]
• Fairies stop developers' bulldozers in their tracks [2005]
• Dig Unearths 1,500 Year Old 'Tarbat Man' (Pict) [2005]
• Europe's oldest civilisation unearthed [2005]
• London - Red hair may be the genetic legacy of Neanderthals... [2005]
• Viking burial ground dispels myth of longship marauders [2004]
• The berber and Scots [2004]
• Ogham alphabet [2004]
• Split Between English and Scots Older Than Thought [2004]
• Roman Brooch find in Shetland extends ancient travel routes [2003]
• Y Chromosomes Rewrite British History [2003]
• Who Were The Celts? [2002]
• Lost Capital Of Scotland Uncovered [2002]
• English And Welsh Are Races Apart [2002]
• Genetic Survey Reveals Hidden Celts Of England [2001]

[SunkenCiv]

;^)

[colorado tanker]

Nice picts!

[SunkenCiv]

Pictish cave, feel free to ignore references to "rising sea levels".

Time Team S12-E08 Wemyss,.Fife

[centurion316]

There's also a Twatt in the Shetlands.

Very long nights during the Winter in the Shetlands and Orkney. Hence the need for whiskey and something else for entertainment.