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Pick

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From Bac Mhic Connain, North Uist, Outer Hebrides

Postcard of Pick.
000-100-038-777-C
© National Museums Scotland

Pick

This antler pick was found at Bac Mhic Connain on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The tip is stained with copper, suggesting that its function had something to do with metalworking, probably for raking a furnace. It dates from between 0 and 800 AD.

The pick was made from deer antler, where the burr and brow tine were retained, and the beam was chopped off. The beam of the pick is polished smooth on one side, probably as a result of being held. There is a small hole half way through the beam.

For at least 4000 years, people in Scotland have extracted metals from ores by smelting. The rocks were heated at high temperatures in furnaces fuelled by charcoal, using bellows to control the air flow. The process separates the metal from the slag.


Record details

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Online ID: 000-100-038-777-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.GNB 55
Date: Between 0 and 800 AD
Material: Horn, deer; showing greenish colouration
Dimensions: 5.88" L
What:
Subject:
Who: Beveridge Collection
Where: Scotland, Inverness-shire, North Uist, Vallay, Bac Mhic Connain
Event:
Description: Pick of deer antler with copper stains, from Bac Mhic Connain, North Uist
References:
  • HallĂ©n, 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 203-4. 
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