Cladh Hallan

Cladh Hallan

Remains of roundhouses at Cladh Hallan
Shown within Outer Hebrides
Location	South Uist
Coordinates
History
Periods	Bronze Age
Site notes
Public access	Yes

Cladh Hallan (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʰlˠ̪ɤɣ ˈhalˠ̪an]) is an archaeological site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. It is significant as the only place in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. Excavations were carried out there between 1988 and 2002, indicating the site was occupied from 2000 BC.

Composition of the male mummy:
blue: male ca. 1600 BC
yellow: male ca. 1500-1400 BC
red: male ca. 1440-1360 BC

In 2001, a team of archaeologists found four skeletons at the site, one of them a male who had died ca. 1600 BC, and another a female who had died ca. 1300 BC. (about the same time as King Tutankhamun of Egypt). At first the researchers did not realise they were dealing with mummies, since the soft tissue had decomposed and the skeletons had been buried. But tests revealed that both bodies had not been buried until about 1120 BC, and that the bodies had been preserved shortly after death in a peat bog for 6 to 18 months. The preserved bodies were then apparently retrieved from the bog and set up inside a dwelling, presumably having religious significance. Archaeologists do not know why the bodies were buried centuries later. The Cladh Hallan skeletons differ from most bog bodies in two respects: unlike most bog bodies, they appear to have been put in the bog for the express purpose of preservation (whereas most bog bodies were simply interred in the bog), and unlike most bog bodies, their soft tissue was no longer preserved at the time of discovery.

The skeletons and other finds are being analysed in laboratories in Scotland, England and Wales. Following the provisions of the Treasure Trove Act, all the finds from Cladh Hallan, including the skeletons, will be allocated to a Scottish museum after the lengthy process of analysis and reporting is completed. According to recent anthropological and DNA-analysis the skeletons of a female and a male were compiled from body parts of at least 6 different human individuals.

External links

• grid reference NF7308121962
• South Uist, Cladh Hallan Roundhouses Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland