Handle plate or toggle

This bone handle plate or toggle was found with cremated human remains in an urn, buried in a cairn at Gourlaw at Lasswade in Midlothian. The burial dates from between 2000 and 1500 BC.

The rectangular piece of bone has a curved cross section. Four holes have been drilled through it.

By around 1750 BC, in mainland Scotland, cremation had become the favoured funerary custom. Grave goods were rare, and generally modest. Sometimes they were kept separate from the pyre, but in other cases, as here, they were burnt with the body.

Record details

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Online ID:	000-100-035-017-C
Image Rights Holder:	National Museums Scotland
Project:	0098: National Museums Scotland Project description \| View all records in project
Ref:	National Museums Scotland X.EA 166
Date:	Between 2000 and 1500 BC
Material:	Bone; small; perforated
Dimensions:
What:	Pendant
Subject:
Who:
Where:	Scotland, Midlothian, Gourlaw, Stackyardfield
Event:
Description:	Small perforated bone pendant from a cairn at Gourlaw Farm, Midlothian
References:	Clarke, D.V., Cowie, T.G., & Foxon, Andrew (eds). Symbols of power at the time of Stonehenge. Edinburgh: National Museums of Antiquities of Scotland, 1985, p 294.
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