Recent archaeological discoveries in excavations at Eilean Donan castle on the north-western coast of Scotland have revealed fascinating insights into life there in the medieval centuries.
Eilean Donan has become famous as a symbol of Highland Scotland in the past century since the restoration, indeed the reconstruction of the castle, which the Royal Navy bombarded to ruins in 1719 after it had been occupied by Spanish troops to support a prospective Jacobite rising.
Eilean Donan Castle
Image: visitinvernesslochness.org
Wikipedia has a history of the castle and its architectural development at Eilean Donan
Medievalists.net has a report on the discoveries from the excavations which can be seen at Rare Medieval Hair-Styling Tool Found at Eilean Donan Castle
The outstanding discover was a gravoir for styling a woman’s hair. This is only the third to be found in the whole UK and immediately suggests that at very least the wife of the Lord of Eilean Donan aspired to present herself in the latest international fashion. The fact that it was apparently made locally reinforces the image of a cultured society.
Other finds included gaming counters, toys for children made from bone, and small pottery crucibles for metal working in copper, silver and gold. These may have been for making personal adornments, or, maybe, for alchemy.
Eilean Donan is remote by land but by sea could connects to other parts of the Highland coastline and the Isles, and beyond that to the culture of western and Scandinavian Europe and to their markets.
Life could no doubt be harsh and demanding in the Gaelic world but these discoveries indicate that it was bound into a wider set of relationships and that fashion and recreation were part of Highland life.
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