Bronze Age remains discovered in mysterious long-lost burial chamber
A Scottish farmer stumbled upon a remarkable archaeological find when his plough uncovered human remains from a burial chamber dating back approximately 4,000 years.
The stone cist at Rhubodach on the Isle of Bute was originally discovered around 1863, when a skull was extracted and dispatched to the Society of Antiquaries of London.
But after the initial excavation, the site slipped from memory and remained untouched until 2022.
Now, a new facility dedicated to the find has been created at the National Museums Collection Centre in Granton, Edinburgh.
Senior Curator of prehistory at National Museums Scotland Dr Matthew Knight said: “It’s a cist that had been forgotten about.
“It had actually previously been excavated in the 1800s when a skull was recovered and sent to London.”
The skull has since been lost, its current whereabouts unknown.
AOC Archaeology Group conducted the excavation following the farmer’s discovery.
The Early Bronze Age cist at Rhubodach, Bute, as it was during excavation
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Analysis of the remains by Dr Jess Thompson, Scotland’s first Curator of Osteoarchaeology, revealed that two individuals had been interred in the chamber at different times.
The person placed in the upper position was a male between 35 and 50 years old at death, standing roughly 5ft6in tall and enjoying good health during his lifetime.
Beneath him lay a female who was either a teenager or very young adult, though her skull is also missing.
Radiocarbon dating established that both died after 2250 BC, during the final quarter of the third millennium BC.
The remains of two Bronze Age people found in a long-lost burial chamber
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Dr Thompson said: “The uppermost individual probably was buried just after, or up to a few generations later than the lower individual.”
Isotopic analysis indicated neither person consumed significant amounts of seafood, instead relying on a land-based diet.
The remains are now housed at a new facility at the National Museums Collection Centre in Granton, Edinburgh, which became operational in autumn 2025.
Created as part of the Scotland’s Archaeological Human Remains Collections project, the facility has expanded storage capacity by 70 per cent.
Dr Matthew Knight in the facility at the National Museums Collection Centre
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The collection encompasses skeletal material from roughly 2,500 individuals recovered from approximately 600 archaeological sites across Scotland.
These remains span an extraordinary timeframe, from the Mesolithic period some 8,000 years ago through to the 18th or 19th century.
The SAHRC project, backed by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, has also upgraded research equipment at the site.
The finds from Bute were declared through the Treasure Trove Unit and allocated to National Museums Scotland in September this year.
The remains have been taken to a facility for storing and researching
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Dr Knight emphasised the profound responsibility that comes with caring for ancient human remains.
“These are people who were once living, breathing humans, and we need to ensure that they are treated with the utmost respect,” he said.
The project aims to provide ethical care, curation and optimal storage conditions while enabling research that enriches understanding of Scotland’s past.
Dr Knight added: “Archaeological human remains provide fascinating insights into the people who once lived in what we now call Scotland.”
