Flat elongated macehead or shafthole adze of steatite, from Shetland

Handled steatite ladle, from Houlland, Unst, Shetland

Handled steatite ladle from Houlland, Unst, Shetland

Handled cooking bowl of steatite from Houlland, Unst, Shetland, 800 - 1100 AD

Cooking bowl of steatite, incomplete, from Houlland, Unst, Shetland

Small square finished steatite bowl, from Shetland

Bowl of steatite, oblong with animal-head handle and ornamented with incised lines, from Newton of Auchingoul, Inverkeithny, Banffshire, Scotland

Spindle whorl of steatite, with runic inscription meaning 'Gautr carved the runes', from Stromness, Orkney, 1000 - 1200 AD

Steatite urn with a cremation deposit, from a cist excavated by James Farrar M.P. at Stennis [Stenness], Orkney

Circular steatite urn with ornamental rim, from Aucorn, Caithness

Steatite urn from Little Asta, Tingwall, Shetland, 1800 - 1200 BC

Small steatite vessel from Little Asta, Tingwall, Shetland, 1800 - 1200 BC

Steatite plug from Quandale, Rousay, 1850 - 1400 BC

Steatite plug from Quandale, Rousay, 1850 - 1400 BC

Steatite plug from Quandale, Rousay, 1850 - 1400 BC

Oculist's stamp of imported green serpentine, with inscriptions on two faces, from Tranent, East Lothian, 2nd century AD