A 2,000-year-old grave in northern Scotland has revealed evidence of an unusual funerary practice that included the deliberate removal of a woman’s brain and the reshaping of some of her bones into tools.
The remains were found in 2000 inside a low stone burial cairn near Loch Borralie, after rabbits exposed human bones by disturbing the soil. Archaeologists excavated the site and recovered the partial skeletons of two individuals buried between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D. during the Iron Age.
At the time, some of the damage seen on the bones was believed to have been caused by scavenging animals. A new study published in Antiquity has now reached a different conclusion. After reexamining the remains, researchers identified clear signs that several of the bones had been deliberately modified by people as part of a funerary ritual.
The Skull Preserved Evidence of Brain Removal
The adult buried in the cairn, identified as Individual 1, was a woman who was more than 30 years old when she died. Researchers found an unusual fracture at the base of her skull along with a series of cut marks on the inside of the cranium.
The study found that the combination of these injuries is consistent with the deliberate removal of the brain shortly after death. The authors write that the procedure may have been connected to cannibalism, or it may have been carried out to clean and preserve the skull for display. The available evidence does not allow them to determine which explanation is correct.
The findings also overturn the interpretation made after the original excavation. Marks once thought to have been left by rats or dogs are now understood to include traces made with sharp tools during human manipulation of the body.
Bones Turned Into Tools
The reanalysis identified another striking feature of the burial. Three arm bones and one leg bone had been carefully worked so that their inner surfaces formed sharp edges and pointed ends.
The researchers noted that these bones were not simply removed from the body. After they had been modified, they were placed back into the grave in their correct anatomical positions, suggesting that the body was carefully reassembled before burial.
In a statement, published by the University of York, Laura Castells Navarro, the study’s lead author, said:
“The motivation behind the extensive manipulation of the skeletal remains of Individual 1 is very difficult to interpret,” she added, “However, the care with which she was reassembled and deposited in the cairn possibly suggests she commanded a level of reverence and respect by her community.”
DNA Analysis Revealed Close Relatives
The cairn also contained the remains of Individual 2, a boy who died at around 15 years of age. Unlike the adult woman, his skeleton showed no evidence of deliberate postmortem modification.
DNA analysis revealed that the two individuals may have been second cousins, sharing a pair of great-grandparents. The research also identified more distant genetic links between the Loch Borralie burials and people interred at other prehistoric sites, including the Orkney Islands.
Researchers also found evidence of links between communities living along Scotland’s north coast and the Northern Isles, despite the area’s relatively sparse population today.
“More broadly, our research shows that prehistoric maritime communities periodically moved around the north coast and Northern Isles of Scotland, possibly in small groups,” Castells Navarro.
