Description

human skull without mandible; One of the collection of Bryce skulls and also included in the Orkney/Cursiter collection. The Acharole skull has the name painted on the occipital bone. The skull has a green tag on the left zygomatic arch and a label on the occipital bone with the provenance, year of excavation and the name �Sir T J Barry�. The mandible is present in Bryce's description of the skull in PSAS but is absent in the museum specimen. The skull is robust and moderately heavy and is brachycephalic with a rounded cranium and a flattened region at lambda. The skull is probably that of a young adult male.The cairn at Acharole is an example of an early Bronze Age burial and is a single cist interment with an unburnt inhumation. Mr Robert Sutherland uncovered the cist in August 1904 and the human remains were sent to Professor Bryce for examination and description. The reason the skull also belongs in the Curstier collection is because J W Cursiter at some point purchased the skull before its donation to the Museum. A beaker vessel of Clarke�s N3 Type was found with the skeleton, which was partially broken on removal. This is now in the National Museum of Scotland (NMS X. EG 43).

Object Number

GLAHM:B.1922.1

Object Name/Type(s)

human remains; skull

Material

human bone

Dimensions

Height

18.9 cm

Width

15.3 cm

Provenance & Acquisition

Collection / Collected By

Sutherland, Robert

Collection Method

None recorded.

Locality

Acharole, West Watten, Caithness, Highland, Scotland

Acquisition

Mr James W. Cursiter (Donor) 1922