Scottish Islands Explorer 40: Nov / Dec 2016

The Cladh Hallan Mummies
‘So-called ‘bog bodies’ are known from
the Iron Age across northern Europe ...’
The Cladh
Hallan Mummies
Sharon Brookshaw uncovers some of their mysteries
South Uist was always going to be an unlikely place for mummies to be found. However,
excavations between 1995 - 2002 at the island’s Late Bronze Age site of Cladh Hallan
revealed finds that the site director, Dr Mike Parker-Pearson, described as, ‘Likely to redefine
key aspects of life and death in prehistoric society … we never expected to find evidence for
mummification in Western Europe. e find is a complete revelation.’
Positioned towards the south west of the island, the site was home to a group of six or
seven roundhouses built in the Late Bronze Age (dated to the 11th Century BC). ere
was also evidence of Middle and Early Bronze Age occupation at Cladh Hallan, indicating
that the site had already been used for a considerable period of time by the point that these
roundhouses were constructed.
ey were built partially dug into the sandy ground, the sunken buildings presumably as
an adaptation to the frequent windy weather. e excavations revealed that the houses were
built on top of a dramatic series of human and animal burials. e skeletons of a man, a
woman and a sheep were under one house; a 10-14 year-old (probably female) under a
second and a three-year old beneath a third.
The Full Significance
e archaeologists thought that the two adult skeletons looked unusual as they were buried
in a highly-flexed position, with the legs bent and brought in close to the chest. Later
examination revealed the full significance of what they had found. Detailed testing on the
two sets of adult remains showed that the skeletons had died up to 500 years before finally
being buried in the ground in around 1000 BC.
In the case of the male skeleton, there was evidence that the normal process of decay had
begun aer death, but had then been abruptly halted, while in the female’s case it had never
started at all. Bones in both bodies also displayed surface de-mineralisation, which suggested
that they had been exposed to an acidic environment for a period of time.
is is not what you would expect to find if the bodies had simply been interred in the
local sandy ground, as was the case with the young child and the teenager. e archaeologists
concluded that the two bodies had been placed in a peat bog for somewhere between six
and 18 months, before being removed, dried and kept above ground.
20 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016