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Die and combs from Foshigarry, North Uist, Outer Hebrides

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Postcard of Die and combs from Foshigarry, North Uist, Outer Hebrides.
000-000-136-625-C
© National Museums Scotland

Die and combs from Foshigarry, North Uist, Outer Hebrides

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: 0035: 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
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. 
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