Iron Age glass beads

Explore the Iron Age finds

The excavations at Birnie have produced a wide range of finds which bring the past alive. These pages showcase a selection of finds from the site. You can see the best finds on display in Elgin Museum.

  • Glass Beads

    Iron Age glass beads

    Above: Two locally-made Iron Age glass beads (left bead 15 mm in diameter).

  • Stone Tools

    Iron Age stone tools

    Above: Stone tools used for preparing leather, grinding grain and sharpening knives. Although people had metal tools, stone was still used because it was convenient and cheap (75-100 mm long).

  • Quern Stone

    Iron Age saddle quern stone

    Above: Quern stone used for grinding grain. It was used so much that a hollow was worn into the stone (600 mm long).

  • Canal Coal Jewellery

    Iron Age cannel coal

    Above: Two pieces of jewellery made from a black stone known as cannel coal. This is not local to the area, and must have been imported. One is an unfinished bead, the other a broken pendant (bead diameter 20 mm).

  • Crucible Fragments

    Iron Age crucible fragments

    Above: Fragments of moulds and crucibles from bronze-casting. These are late Bronze Age in date, c.1000-800 BC.

  • Chariot Ring

    Iron Age chariot ring

    Above: Bronze harness ring from a chariot. The chariot was the sports car of the Iron Age, and shows that wealthy people lived at Birnie (width 45 mm).

  • Hilt of Iron Sword

    Remains of Iron Age sword

    Above: Hilt of an iron sword. Swords were rare weapons in the Iron Age – only important people had them. This one was deliberately broken before it was buried (H 110mm).

  • Curved Knife

    Iron Age razor

    Above: Curved iron knife with spiral handle - perhaps a razor (length 90 mm).

  • Gold Torc

    Iron Age gold

    Above: Terminal of a gold torc. Gold was very rare in the Iron Age, and was only used by the most important of people (H 10mm).

  • Gold Torc

    Iron Age torcs

    Above: This intact torc was found about 10 km from Birnie.

  • Pictish Brooch

    Pictish brooch fragment and reconstruction

    Left: Artist’s reconstruction of the original Pictish brooch.
    Right: This Pictish brooch dates to about 800 AD. It shows that people still lived at Birnie long after the Iron Age (height 33 mm).

  • Iron Age Crucible

    Crucible found at Birnie

    Above: Iron Age crucible used for casting bronze. Although iron was used for tools and weapons, bronze was still popular for jewellery and other decorations (width 25 mm).

Archaeologists on site at Birnie

Excavating the site.

National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130