News & Articles
Bronze Age Fair a Success
by Sarah Winlow, Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust
The Bronze Age Fair at Kilmagadwood was a success, with
over 150 people attending the pop-up exhibition and
archaeologyfairheldlastmonthinPortmoakVillageHalland
ontheGreenatScotlandwell.
The Fair was all about the discovery of over 20 cremation
urnsdatingfromtheBronzeAgeonthesiteofthetwonew
housesontheKinnesswoodsideofKilmagadwood.Theurns
arebetween3,500and3,900yearsoldandwereexcavated
in 2013.
One of the decorated Bronze Age urns found at Kilmagadwood
Archaeologicalscientistsandresearcherscametogetherwith
membersofthelocalcommunitywithaninterestinheritage
to present over a dozen stalls to the public, all themed on
theamazingdiscoveryorthearchaeologyofthelocalarea.
Osteoarchaeologists from the University of Edinburgh and
curatorsfromtheNationalMuseumsScotlandbroughtalong
someofthecontentsoftheurns–crematedbone,boneand
Nathan Welch, MSc student in Human
Osteoarchaeology, points to the bone toggle he
found during laboratory excavation of Urn 7 as
Dr Alison Sheridan of the National Museums
Scotland looks on
Experimental archaeologist and potter Graham Taylor explains
how the urns were made. The large urn in the foreground is
Graham’s replica of the urn found at Kilmagadwood in the
1940s
bronzeartefacts–aswellasafew
of the urns themselves. Living
history experts in Bronze Age
technologies breathed life into
ancient techniques of ceramics
andbronzesmithing.
Theresearchintotheurnsisonly
justinitsinitialphaseandispart
ofamuchlargerpost-excavation
programme
that
requires
funding. The Fair certainly
demonstrated there is lots of
interest locally in the discovery,
and it is hoped this interest will
help build the funds required
to complete the analysis of this
uniquefindforKinross-shire.
The Fair was funded by Perth
and Kinross Heritage Trust
as part of Perth and Kinross
Archaeology Month and a
Let’s Celebrate grant from the
Living Lomonds Landscape
Partnership. Huge thanks are
Microscope image of the bone toggle from Urn
7. This would have been used to fasten the
deceased’s funeral garment
Photo: Alison Sheridan,
National Museums Scotland
also due to the volunteers, in particular,
WendyMacPhedranandJohnNicolofthe
Portmoak Village Hall Committee; David
MunroofKinross(Marshall)Museum;and
allthevolunteerswhohelpedontheday.
Youcankeepintouchwithwhat’shappens
nextviaPerthandKinrossHeritageTrust’s
websitethathasalatestnewssection,or
viatwitter@PKHeritageTrustorfacebook
@PKHT.Outreach.
IfyoumissedtheFair,theexhibitioncanbedownloadedasapdffromPKHT’swebsite:
www.pkht.org.uk/index.php/news-events/archaeology-month
Kinross Newsletter 11