Edinburgh, Feb 21 (ANI): Recent analysis of 4,000-year-old pots recovered during an excavation of two graves at Upper Largie in Scotland, has provided exciting evidence linking prehistoric Scotland with the Netherlands.
The analysis of the pots was done by Alison Sheridan of National Museums Scotland.
It revealed early international style beakers of the type found around the lower Rhine, which is the modern-day Netherlands and a strange hybrid of styles that suggest Irish and Yorkshire influences.
"These finds are very rare," said Martin Cook, the AOC Archaeology Project Officer, who oversaw the excavations in 2005.
"I think there are three or four other examples that early in Scotland. We initially didn't realise how unusual they were, as it is so unusual to find three beaker ceramic vessels in the same feature," he added.
The excavations also revealed two graves within a complex Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual landscape composed of monuments including an Early Neolithic cursus (long earthwork) and an Early Bronze Age timber circle.
Although no human remains were recovered in either grave, Martin believes a human body had been laid in the pit.
The construction of the grave shows strong Dutch parallels suggesting that its occupant may have been a Dutch immigrant.
"The grave is so early and the style of ceramic is so rare for this period that it's either an immigrant or a first or second generation descendant who still knows these techniques," said Martin.
"The pots are made from local material which certainly suggests an immigrant or a second generation person," he added. (ANI)
