Sensational Searches in Scotland: From the Bronze Age

SEven the 3,000-year-old bridle has been preserved. This was the biggest surprise for archaeologists. The Bronze Age alone is a sensation for Scotland. Because it does not include horse harness with only buckles and ornaments. Jewelry And there is still a sword in its sheath. This is also the second time that Bronze Age artifacts have been found in the far north of the United Kingdom. For Edinburgh Treasurer Bureau head Emily Freeman, the discovery is of national importance. “We still have a lot of work to do,” Freeman says. Among other things, it is still unclear why someone buried so many objects so long ago.

The treasure was found by chance. Investigations Mariusz Stepien discovered them on 21 June with a metal detector, not far from the village of Peebles, about 40 kilometers south of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The thirty-four-year-old newspaper “The Scotsman” states that he was trembling with joy. He was immediately aware that he had found something unique about half a meter underground – “a great piece of Scottish history”. Stepien immediately informed the responsible Treasury Travel Office and then camped with some friends next to the site for 22 days to be able to follow the work of archaeologists for about 22 days. “We wanted to be a part of the excavation from the first to the last day.”

Very few, individual objects were excavated, including parts of a chariot, and brought to the National Museum in Edinburgh, where they are now being cleaned and examined. At the end of the excavation, an entire block of earth was cut from the ground, which would now be carefully divided over the next few weeks and further fragments examined. The Treasure of Peebles, as it is now called, was probably buried around 1000 to 900 BCE at the place where Stephen was found again 3000 years later. Since biological materials, especially leather, have been preserved in the ground, archaeologists can look back for an entire Bronze Age for the first time and understand how the straps and buckles were attached to the horse’s head. “And all that,” Freeman says, “because whoever found it and was responsible for immediately informing the owner of the area.”