Not seen in 3,000 years! The underside of a rare Bronze Age Shield [6:29]

YouTube ^ | June 27, 2026 | NationalMuseumsScotland

[SunkenCiv]

This rare Bronze Age shield was deposited in a bog over 3,000 years ago.

It was discovered in Auchmaleddie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1897.

Due to its fragile state, it has been kept flat in storage for decades. Until now.

Our Artefact Conservator Bethan Bryan and Curator Dr Matthew Knight assess the shield ahead of conservation work. This process involves lifting the shield to look at its underside, which has not been viewed in over 3,000 years. Find out what clues it has about its use and how it was made.

The shield has been conserved for display in the free exhibition 'Scotlands First Warriors' at the National Museum of Scotland Sat 27 Jun 2026 -- Sun 16 May 2027. 

Not seen in 3,000 years! 
The underside of a rare Bronze Age Shield | 6:29 
NationalMuseumsScotland | 19K subscribers | 20,484 views | June 27, 2026

[Albion Wilde]

As for the shield, if that’s the one, evidently you can see right through it! What is left to see on the other side?

There don't appear to be any arrow or spear piercings, so the bronze must have been strong enough to allow peepholes. That feature would be useful in two ways--first, being able to get a glimpse of your enemy's position through those little holes held close to the shieldbearer's eye; and also, the aeration would make the shield somewhat lighter to handle. Even so, it must have weighed quite a bit when new.

[Albion Wilde]

Should have just slid it onto a piece of glass instead of picking it up.

I agree; it's just good luck that it didn't collapse.

Most housewives learn to turn over a pineapple upside-down cake or a pie crust by placing a sheet of parchment and a dinner plate on it to hold it and then flipping it over. They needed to sandwich the shield between two layers of that black foam, add light strapping, turn it and then unwrap it.

[GingisK]

...or a quick flip using a big spatula.

[Albion Wilde]

Like a pizza paddle!

[SunkenCiv]

It may have been stretched over wood, or when all the metal was there, the bends lent strength, a la the steps in an old metal fire escape step.

[BradyLS]

My guess is that the bronze was overlaid and fastened to a wooden shield that had since rotted away. The central hole may have gone around a boss that was later lost. All speculation on my part.

[BradyLS]

I agree.

[SunkenCiv]

Iron Age sidebar:

2,000-Year-Old Bones from Scotland Studied | Archaeology Magazine | June 11, 2026

Cuts found on the inside of an Iron Age woman's skull suggest that her brain may have been cut out before burial, according to a CNN report. The woman's remains were discovered with those of a teenaged boy in 2000 under a cairn in northern Scotland. Laura Castells Navarro of the University of York and her colleagues said that the cut marks were found in areas of the woman's cranium where ligaments attached the brain to the skull, which reinforces the idea that the brain had been deliberately removed. The researchers also determined that the base of the woman's cranium may have been fractured by an intentional, targeted impact in an effort to access the brain. Additionally, signs of modification were identified on one of the woman's femurs, the humerus in each upper arm, and an ulna from one of her forearms. It had been previously suggested that the marks on the bones had been made by rodents after burial, but Navarro said that the bones were smoothed from polishing. "We think that what happened was that [the arm bones] may have been snapped in half, and then they had been whittled to a very sharp edge," she explained. The leg bone was flat and smooth, however. The bones were then placed in the grave in the correct anatomical position. "That was quite interesting, given how heavily modified they have been because clearly there has been some kind of thought and respect and care on putting them together," Navarro concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about an early Iron Age fort in northern Scotland, go to "Letter from Scotland: Land of the Picts."

2,000-Year-Old Bones from Scotland Studied | Archaeology Magazine | June 11, 2026

Photographs by Rebecca Ellis-Haken; figure by Navarro et al., © Antiquity Publications Ltd.

[Albion Wilde]

It may have been stretched over wood

But if so, there would have been marks where the nails or screws or wires had been. Also, the handle didn't seem deep enough for two layers.

As for my last comment, there didn't appear to be any piercings from arrows‚ except that a whole section was missing—LOL! Probably they will be able to tell if that was from weaponry or ground rot. Given that the overall shape was still intact, it probably wasn't a rock from a trebuchet, which would have bent it all up!