Submitted by vicky on Monday, 02 September 2002
Archaeological Digs Underwater archaeologists from The Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology have discovered ancient jewellery at the early Iron Age site of Oakbank Crannog in Loch Tay, Perthshire.
Led by husband and wife team Dr Nicholas Dixon and Barrie Andrian, archaeologists have spent the summer investigating the Crannogs which are among the most widespread but enigmatic aspects of Scotland’s heritage.
A recent find from the Oakbank site is an elegant 10 cm long bronze swan-neck cloak pin dating back to 600 BC. This is probably the only one of its kind in Scotland and suggests that those who chose to live on the water were among the well-off people of the time.
The pin, dating to the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, was uncovered in a submerged house flooring two metres below the surface of the loch by Jenny Dukes (22), a student from Florida.
"It was only my second dive on the site so it was a wonderful moment when I looked down and saw this piece of jewellery beneath me," Jenny said.
"To realise that I was the first person to see it in more than two-and-a-half thousand years was just incredible."
The team has also just found a wooden paddle which probably once belonged to the owner of one of the log boats, a butter dish still with traces of butter and opium poppy seeds.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road