Cladh Hallan

Cladh Hallan
Cladh Hàlainn (Scottish Gaelic)
Photo of the archaeological site at Cladh Hallan
Remains of roundhouses at Cladh Hallan
Cladh Hallan is located in South Uist
Cladh Hallan
Cladh Hallan
Location within South Uist
57°10′16″N 7°24′27″W / 57.17116°N 7.40759°W / 57.17116; -7.40759
TypePrehistoric settlement and burial site
PeriodsBronze Age
LocationSouth Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
History
First occupied
Approximately 2000 BCE
BuiltRoundhouses: c. 1080–1020 BCE
Site notes
Excavation dates1988–2002
Public accessYes
Two composite mummies discovered beneath a roundhouse floor in 2001

Cladh Hallan (Scottish Gaelic: Cladh Hàlainn, Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʰl̪ˠɤɣ ˈhaːl̪ˠɪɲ]) is an archaeological site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. It is significant as the only place in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. Excavations were carried out there between 1988 and 2002, which indicate the site was occupied from 2000 BC.

Discovery

Archaeological excavations at Cladh Hallan began in 1988. Over the next 14 years, archaeologists working on the South Uist Archaeological Project uncovered preserved floors, walls, middens and outdoor surfaces. Beneath these layers, they found traces of earlier ploughed fields, a Bronze Age burial ground and evidence of earlier occupation.

Roundhouses

The settlement included a north–south row of three adjoining roundhouses constructed between 1080 and 1020 BCE. The buildings shared walls, each contained a central hearth, and preserved floor surfaces, sleeping areas, entrances, yards and evidence of repeated rebuilding survived.

Mummies

Near the end of the excavations in 2001, archaeologists believed they had found the remains of four individuals beneath the floors of the Bronze Age roundhouses: two adults and two children.

The adult skeletons were identified as a man and a woman from their skeletal characteristics. The children consisted of a crouched burial estimated to have been between 10 and 14 years old and the largely disarticulated remains of a younger child aged about 18 months to three years.

Because the soft tissue had decomposed, the remains appeared to be ordinary skeletons rather than deliberately preserved bodies. The burials were initially interpreted as representing four individuals who had lived and died during the occupation of the settlement.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Parker Pearson, Mike; Mulville, Jacqui; Smith, Helen; Marshall, Peter; Booth, Tom; Brennand, Mark; Chamberlain, Andrew; Cook, Gordon; Craig, Oliver; de Luis, Irene; Evans, Jane; French, Charles; Hale, Alexandra; Hamlet, Laura; Hiller Bardsley, Jen; Manley, Harry; Montgomery, Janet; Moth, Edwin; Parsons, Vicky; Peto, Jessica; Rhodes, Shaun; Schwenninger, Jean-Luc; Simpson, Ian; Willis, Christie (2021). Cladh Hallan: roundhouses and the dead in the hebridean bronze age and iron age (Hardback ed.). Philadelphia: Oxbow Books. pp. 1–25. doi:10.2307/j.ctv24q4zc4.7. ISBN 978-1789256932. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. ↑ Pearson, Michael Parker (2012). From Machair to Mountains: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in South Uist. Oxbow Books. hdl:20.500.12657/53457. ISBN 9781789258875.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Bronze Age Case Study: Cladh Hallan". Scottish Archaeological Research Framework. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Booth, Thomas J.; Chamberlain, Andrew T.; Pearson, Mike Parker (2015). "Mummification in Bronze Age Britain". Antiquity. 89 (347): 1155–1173. doi:10.15184/aqy.2015.111. S2CID 161304254.
  5. ↑ "The Cladh Hallan prehistoric mummies". Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Bronze Age Britons mummified their dead". BBC News. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  7. ↑ Pearson, Mike Parker; Mulville, Jacqui; Smith, Helen; Marshall, Peter (2021). Cladh Hallan: Roundhouses and the Dead in the Hebridean Bronze Age and Iron Age. Part I: Stratigraphy, Spatial Organisation and Chronology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781789256963.

Further reading

57°10′16″N 7°24′27″W / 57.17116°N 7.40759°W / 57.17116; -7.40759