There’s a very high risk of wildfire in south west and east Scotland from 28 March to 1 June 2026. Please pay attention to local guidance and follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

The Bare Bones

The Neolithic period in Britain and Ireland spans approximately 1,500 years from around 4000 BC to 2500 BC. That's about 60 generations. When measured in generations, the Neolithic becomes easier to grasp. It becomes possible to place individual lives within the timeline. It spans a range of regions and landscapes, with distinct cultural traditions that are shaped and shared among them.

In The Bare Bones booklet, we explore a few generations living in one region and focus on the monuments they built.

The descendants of the early Neolithic pioneers, who arrived in the Atlantic-facing areas of south-west Scotland and the north of Ireland in the centuries after 4000 BC, built megalithic monuments known as Clyde cairns and court tombs. Their architecture suggests their use as a place for the dead – people would place the deceased within the chambers inside the cairn. But also as a place for the living to pay their respects within the forecourt outside the cairn.

Telling even just the bare bones of their story involved:

  • exploration – including a daring mountain-top mission
  • new drone photography
  • modern laser scan survey
  • creative archaeological visualisation
  • re-evaluation of several unpublished excavations
Illustrated image of two people standing in front of a large standing stone, holding baskets with skulls and bones in them. Text says, The Bare Bones: Explore the Early Neolithic Chambered Cairns of the North Channel

The ‘Bone Detectives’ activity puts learners in the role of osteoarchaeologists examining the bones found within a Neolithic chambered cairn. The 24 bone cards that make up one of four different assemblages are placed as a jumble of bones within a model cairn. The aim is to analyse the assemblage to work out how many individuals were buried and what the bones can tell us about their lives and deaths. Along the way, learners will be following a similar process to the osteoarchaeologist, offering an insight into an archaeological career pathway and demonstrating the problem solving and critical thinking skills that lie at the heart of all archaeological work.

Resource downloads

Explore the Early Neolithic chambered cairns of the North Channel, and learn about the science of osteoarchaeology.

The Bare Bones

Explore the Early Neolithic Chambered Cairns of the North Channel.

Learn more

Listen to our Archaeologist, Matt Ritchie, discuss the learning resource and how we present and preserve archaeology and the historic environment on our national forests and land. 

This recorded talk took place on Saturday 27 May 2023, at Augustine United Church and was chaired by Sam Mills, Council Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.