Plant-fiber ties found in Bronze Age hoard – History

Excavation and analysis of the Bronze Age treasure found in Rossmark, a coastal town near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, revealed rare organic plant remains entwined in bronze bracelets and necklaces. The treasure dates back to around 1000 B.C.

The treasure was discovered during preventive archaeological excavations carried out between August 2020 and July 2021 at the site of the future housing development. The excavations revealed the remains of a Bronze Age settlement, including six roundhouses, a wooden palisade, drying kilns, plough marks from agricultural work, a sarcophagus tomb, and a small circular pit near a posthole in the roundhouse containing a collection of bronze artifacts. They were probably originally packed in a woven basket or bag and buried whole.

The container had decayed and no visible remains remained, but in order to preserve any organic remains and trace material of the original environment, the hoard was moved into a soil block. Currently, the hoard is being excavated under laboratory conditions and archaeologists have so far found a complete neck ring, a partial neck ring, six half-ring bracelets and a cup-shaped half-ring bracelet.

Some of the bracelets were tied with fibrous plant cords. Archaeologists believe that the bracelets survived because the copper in the bronze has antibacterial properties. The corrosion products of the copper adhered to the cords and prevented them from rotting.

“The recovery of these artefacts was completed successfully under controlled conditions, which was crucial to preserve these very important objects, especially the very delicate organic cords that bound some of the objects together,” said Rachel Buckley, head of the lab’s excavation. “The bracelets were bound together with organic material and the pieces were recovered as a whole to allow for further detailed study. While there are examples of other hoards where it is speculated that objects were bound together because of their location, the vegetation in the Rosemarkie hoard has survived for around 3,000 years, proving that the artefacts were bound together.” […]

“The fact that the treasure was buried in a shallow pit with a single homogeneous fill, leaving little room for anything other than the objects found inside, suggests that this was not an accidental loss,” said Iraia Arabaolaza, who led the archaeological analysis for GUARD. “It appears that the pit was dug to the length and depth required to accommodate the objects and then quickly filled in. This may have been a temporary construction intended to recover the treasure at some stage. Evidence from the surrounding settlement may reveal that it was not only the treasure that was abandoned, but also the settlement.”