Craft... connections

I haven't finished done anything creative recently but my friend has discovered this in a midden (refuse tip) in a sand dune in Uist. It's Iron Age - i.e. pre-historic. We think it's for carding fleece - the end is clearly meant to be used as a comb, and the notches would allow for yarn to be wound around it. We're not sure it was actually used - a midden is where broken or unused things turn up, so that would fit - because the teeth of the comb don't seem to have been fully carved out. On the other hand, though, it could have been old and they could have broken through time and use.

It's amazing to hold this in your hand. My mother teaches history and she always told us that we should be annoyed that schools in Scotland are so busy teaching Ancient Egypt and the Romans that they often don't teach children about their own ancestors. They lived good lives - nothing they left behind suggests that they practiced slavery or human sacrifice etc etc. They seem to have eaten a good diet, had plenty of free time, adapted their buildings perfectly to the environment, had indoor toilets and generally to have had a pretty good time of it. We are very lucky in that Stone Age sites like Skara Brae in Orkney are remarkably well-preserved and we can see almost exactly how they lived. The Iron Age is a wee bit more mysterious but discoveries like this throw a little light on the fact that people were quite like us, really.

It's made of bone and it will have to be declared and sent off to the government but until then holding it is a joy. I found a hammer-stone and that was much the same - you know noone has held it since the original owner more than 1,000 years ago. And it fits so nicely in your hand!