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Piece of whalebone

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From Bac Mhic Connain, North Uist

Piece of whalebone
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This piece of whalebone was found at Bac Mhic Connain on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. It was probably kept as raw material for carving into another object, such as a lid. The bone dates from sometime between 200 BC and 800 AD.

The object is from a vertebral disc (a segment of the spinal column) of a Cuvier's Beaked Whale, an uncommon species of whale.

People collected bone from stranded carcasses of whales, porpoises and dolphins. In the largely treeless north and west, whalebone was used as a substitute for wood. It was strong, dense and resilient, and came in very large sizes.

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