The Frankenstein Mummies of Scotland

Cladh Hallan bog mummies and Ancient ancestral veneration

An artist’s impression shows an early Bronze Age British funeral (Historic England - click here for source)

I’ve always been fascinated by ancient remains of humans in the UK, not how the person died, how were they buried and how those left behind honoured the dead. Early Bronze Age burials have a lot to tell us about death rituals, although we still can only guess to the beliefs of those carrying out the rituals.

In Cladh Hallan (Cladh is the Gaelic name for cemetery - pronounced ‘cla’) on the Isle of South Uist a very curious find came to light. A team from the University of Sheffield were excavating a terrace of bronze Age houses. Under the floor boards they discovered a crouched burial - the deceased in a position where their legs were drawn up and arms wrapped around the legs.

This is a post for paid subscribers - where I dive a bit deeper into a story. I’ll be starting a new series Reclaiming Keening, a series for both free and paid for accounts which explores:

• Why reclaiming keening is important

• The language of grief

• Exploring grief through creativity

• Telling our story

• Grief as activism

• Role of ritual