Cup

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This bone cup was found at the site of the Neolithic village of Skara Brae in Orkney. Traces of red ochre, a yellow or reddish-brown earth used in early paints or dyes, are preserved on the interior. The cup was used sometime between 3100 and 2400 BC.

The cup was made from a vertebra (a segment of the spinal column) of a fish or sea mammal such as a dolphin or whale.

The skeletal remains of whales and other marine mammals were widely exploited in coastal areas of Scotland, especially in the largely treeless Northern and Western Isles. People collected bone from stranded carcasses of whales, porpoises and dolphins.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-040-469-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.HA 586
• Date: Between 3100 and 2400 BC
  
• Material: Bone, cetacean and fish; interior retaining traces of red ochre
  
• Dimensions: 2.50" max D
  
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• Where: Scotland, Orkney, Skaill, Skara Brae
  
• Event:
• Description: Cup made of cetacean and fish vertebrae, with interior retaining traces of red ochre, from Skara Brae
  
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