Die and combs from Foshigarry, North Uist, Outer Hebrides

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This bone die and the two antler combs were found at Foshigarry on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. They date from between 200 BC and 800 AD.

The oblong die was made from a cattle bone. It has dots on four of its sides. The die is an irregular shape, so it could not have been used like a modern one. Instead, it would have been thrown onto a soft surface where it would embed, giving all four numbers an equal chance.

The small double-sided combs consist of plates of antler cut into teeth, riveted together between two connecting plates on either side in the middle. They are decorated with incised ring and dot stamps. The combs are similar to others found along Atlantic coasts of Scotland.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-136-625-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: Early Scottish Shelter - Life in the Prehistoric Home (multimedia essay)
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.GNA 151
• Date: Between 200 BC and 800 AD
  
• Material: Bone; small-toothed, only six teeth remaining; ornamented
  Bone; small-toothed; ornamented with dot and circle design
  Bone; the sides bearing 3, 4, 5 and 6 dots
  Comb
  Comb / fragment
  Die
  
• Dimensions: 1.31" x 0.78" x 0.75"
  2.13" L
  2.66" x 1.94"
  
• What: Comb
  Comb / fragment
  Die
  
• Subject:
• Who: Beveridge Collection
  Beveridge Collection
  Beveridge Collection
  
• Where: Scotland, Inverness-shire, North Uist, Foshigarry
  Scotland, Inverness-shire, North Uist, Foshigarry
  Scotland, Inverness-shire, North Uist, Foshigarry
  
• Event:
• Description: Parallelepiped bone die from Foshigarry, North Uist
  Small-toothed bone comb ornamented with dot-and-circle design, from Foshigarry, North Uist
  Fragment of an ornamented small-toothed bone comb, from Foshigarry, North Uist
  
• References:
  • HallTn, Ywonne. The use of bone and antler at Foshigarry and Bac Mhic Connain, two Iron Age sites on North Uist, Western Isles. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 124 (1994), pp 189-231, esp. pp 222-3, 225-6. 
• Translations:
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