The RICHeS team recently travelled to Edinburgh to meet the Scotland’s Archaeological Human Remains Collection (SAHRC) team, led by Dr Matthew Knight, Senior Curator of Prehistory. This RICHeS’ investment aims to enhance the storage and research capacity for the archaeological human skeletal remains collections from National Museums Scotland and project partner Historic Environment Scotland.
Storage space designed for research
The SAHRC facility is housed in the sector-leading Building 17 at the National Museums Collection Centre. This building was completed in 2015, and is designed with intersecting storage and research in mind; research benches are located adjacent to collections storage to allow easy access. These highly organised collections build on a letter code cataloguing system first published in 1892, with a new category having been developed by the team for archaeological human remains. Highlights of the wider collection include 4,500 prehistoric Scottish arrowheads laid out to enable comparative assessment by researchers, and Neolithic carved stone balls. Recent photogrammetry, utilising 3D models has informed the research into the possible prehistoric uses of these balls, reflecting how knowledge of the collections continues to evolve.
Newly constructed SAHRC
With the expanded archaeological human skeletal remains collections facility now built, doubling the size of the previous store, work on re-boxing the collections into new acid-free boxes is ongoing. Alongside this, the integration of collections from Historic Environment Scotland is taking place alongside purchasing new equipment. This includes state-of-the-art 3D scanners that the team will use to accurately scan human skeletal material from teeth to crania. These scanners will also enable global access and collaboration as they enable the sharing of digital copies of collections.
The team highlighted that RICHeS has enabled the purchase of new replica skeleton reference materials and a new bespoke wheelchair accessible laboratory table. This adjustable table allows researchers to examine skeletons from all sides reducing the risk of damage to the archaeological collection and facilitating more effective analysis.
Leadership in archaeological human skeletal remains
With a newly expanded team bringing a depth of expertise, including Scotland’s first Curator of Osteoarchaeology, the project is focused on strengthening leadership within Scotland for ethical practices when researching archaeological human skeletal remains. We were delighted to hear about the engagement activities with regional museums across Scotland and look forward to watching this grow. Insights and guidance for working with archaeological human remains are also shared through videos on the National Museums Scotland website, offering a widely accessible resource for researchers.
Dr Matthew Knight shares:
“We’re delighted with what has been achieved as a result of the RICHeS funding. The enhancements we’ve been able to make to the stores are going to have wide-ranging benefits for the curation and research of archaeological human remains at National Museums Scotland. Beyond this, we’re excited to now be developing sector-wide initiatives that will share the benefits of the RICHeS funding across Scotland.”