SPINNINGDALE, SCOTLAND—Fragments of sheepskin have been discovered within a 4,000-year-old burial cist in the Scottish Highlands. Archaeologists think that the sheepskin may have been wrapped around the remains of a middle-aged woman who had been buried in a crouched position. The fragments were found beneath the bones of her left arm and survived because the burial pit was near the water table. A food vessel dating to the early Bronze Age had been placed near her head. “There have been two other samples of Bronze Age wool found in the British Isles, but none of potential sheepskin are known. Findings of hide or fur are few and far between in Britain but are often associated with ‘rich burials’ of adult inhumations,” explained archaeologist Iraia Arabaolaza.
