![Scotland Medieval Padlock](https://archaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Scotland-Medieval-Padlock.jpg)
PERTHSHIRE, SCOTLAND—BBC News reports that archaeologists, students, and volunteers from the Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust recovered a padlock at a Pictish homestead site in central Scotland. The stone and timber structure where the lock was found once had a turf roof, and is thought to date to sometime between A.D. 500 and 1000. The box-shaped lock would have been used to lock a door or a chest containing valuable items. Fragments of knife blades, buckles, and pins were also recovered. To read about the digital reconstruction of a 1,200-year-old Pictish slab, go to "Game of Stones."