Knife handle

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This bone knife handle was found at Bac Mhic Connain on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. It has an inscription on the handle, perhaps the name of the owner. The knife was used sometime between 400 and 800.

The ogham inscription, in faintly etched characters, reads 'MAQUNTENACOT'.

Ogham was a form of writing used by native peoples in Britain and Ireland in the first millennium AD. Some people carved their names on their property, but most people were illiterate. Writing was often seen as a kind of magic spell.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-038-797-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
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• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.GNB 134
• Date: Between 400 and 800
  
• Material: Bone, cetacean; tapering slightly to the butt end; ogham inscription: 'M(E?)QUNTENUC(O?)T'
  
• Dimensions: 4.31" L
  
• What:
• Subject:
• Who: Beveridge Collection
  
• Where: Scotland, Inverness-shire, North Uist, Vallay, Bac Mhic Connain
  
• Event:
• Description: Ogham inscribed knife handle of bone, from Bac Mhic Connain, North Uist
  
• References:
• Translations:
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