A Bronze Age necklace found buried close to the River Tay near Dundee has been reassembled for the first time since around 2,000 BC by conservators at National Museums Scotland. The stunning item pieced together “like a tiny jigsaw” now reflects life during the period and tells a little of the times and its customs - and who might have worn it. It was first discovered around 1870 in a short cist, a stone lined grave, along with fragments of pottery, near the water at Balgay Estate and later donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, a forerunner to NMS.
For decades, the individual beads have been in storage, their story untold. Following a request from McManus Museum in Dundee to show the necklace on loan, conservators were faced with the challenge of assembling and restringing the necklace. Just 33 original necklace beads remained with more than 60 replicas made to complete the piece.
READ MORE: How Scottish stone at Stonehenge may have been ‘diplomatic’ gift As the necklace re-emerged in complete form, so did traces of those who wore it. Under a microscope, wear marks where the beads had rubbed on the wearer’s clothing could be found. Those who made the necklace 4,000 years ago also had a presence in the tiny drill holes and decoration which had, in part, been made by a paste mixed with burnt bones - either animal or human.
Dr Matthew Knight, senior curator of prehistory at National Museums Scotland, said: “This necklace was not designed just to .