Knives

Add to album

These three flint knives were found in a chambered cairn at Giants' Graves on Whiting Bay on the island of Arran. Flint arrowheads, various sherds of pottery and a large amount of cremated human remains were also recovered.

The knife on the left was made by careful retouching of the upper surface of a broad, curving flake of flint from County Antrim in Ireland. The middle knife would have been oval, but the tip has snapped off.

Many of Scotland's early farming communities buried their dead in imposing communal tombs - stone chambers, covered with mounds of earth or stone, linked to the outside of the mound by a passage or forecourt. The tombs were used over several generations.

Record details

To search on related items, click any underlined text below.

• Online ID: 000-190-004-059-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.EO 263
• Date: Between 3700 and 3100 BC
  
• Material: Flint; oval
  Flint; oval
  Oval
  Knife
  Knife
  Knife
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Knife
  Knife
  Knife
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Bute, Arran, Whiting Bay, Giants' Graves
  Scotland, Bute, Arran, Whiting Bay, Giants' Graves
  Scotland, Bute, Arran, Whiting Bay, Giants' Graves
  
• Event:
• Description: Ripple-flaked knife from Giants' Grave, Whiting Bay, Arran
  Single edge invasive flint knife, from Giants' Graves, Whiting Bay, Arran
  Single edge invasive flint knife, from Giants' Graves, Whiting Bay, Arran
  
• 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, pp 170, 235. 
• Translations:
• Related Records: