Sculptor’s Cave
Excavation
S. Benton, 1928-1930; I.A.G. Shepherd & A.N. Shepherd, 1979.
Curation
National Museum of Scotland
Burials
MNI: 1+ (including juveniles).
Finds
Late Bronze Age, Roman Iron Age and Pictish metalwork, Bronze Age and Roman pottery, bone implements, animal bone.
Dates
| Period | Reliability |
|---|---|
| Roman | 14C date obtained directly on human remains |
14C
1738 bp (UB-6930) 1696 bp (SUERC-68717) on human bone
External References
Bibliography
Allen, J.R. & Anderson, J. (1903) The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland. Edinburgh.
Armit, I. & Buster, L. (2020) Darkness Visible. The Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, from the Bronze Age to the Picts. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Armit, I., Schulting, R.J., Knüsel, C. J. & Shepherd, I.A.G. (2011) Death, decapitation and display: the Bronze and Iron Age human remains from the Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, NE Scotland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 77: 251-78.
Ballin, T.B. & Faithful, J. (2025) The Stotfield silcrete (or ‘Stotfield Cherty Rock’), Moray, eastern Scotland. Preprint available
Benton, S. (1931) The excavation of the Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea, Morayshire. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 65: 177-216.
Oldham, A.D. (1975) The Caves of Scotland. Privately printed.
Robertson, A.S. (1970) Roman finds from non-Roman sites in Scotland. Britannia 1: 198-226.
Sheridan, A. et al. (2019) A summary round-up list of Scottish archaeological human remains that have been sampled/analysed for DNA as of January 2019. Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 19: 227-250.
Shepherd, I.A.G. (1983) Pictish settlement problems in N.E. Scotland. In Chapman, J.C. and Mytum, H.C. (eds) Settlement in Northern Britain 1000 BC - AD 1000. British Archaeological Reports, British Series 118. B.A.R., Oxford, pp. 327-356.
Shepherd, I. & Shepherd, A. (1979). Sculptor’s Cave, Covesea (Drainie). Discovery and Excavation in Scotland 14-15.
Article Author Graham Mullan