Browse key artefacts from our properties across the country.
Displaying 21-40 of 96
Sailors could tell the latitude of their ship at sea using a backstaff – also known as a Davis quadrant.
Object number TRH326
Bell Rock Lighthouse in miniature.
Object number TRH335
Last used in 1929 to fight a fire at Glenlossie Distillery, this fire engine was pulled by a pair of horses.
Object number DHU018
Known as Angus, this gargoyle once acted as a spout to direct rainwater from the roof of Caerlaverock Castle.
Object number CAER/o/1
The slight curve to the back of this medieval panel from Crossraguel Abbey suggests that it was a section of a baptismal font.
Object number CGL/o/1
Twists of paper and metallic threads were used to make the pattern on the lid and sides of this wooden jewellery box.
Object number DUM146
Traces of ochre still dot this mortar (grinding vessel) found at Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement on Orkney.
Object number X.HA.28
This bone whistle found at the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae may have been used to make music to attract prey.
Object number X.2017.42.7528
These beads may have been used as a necklace more than 4,500 years ago.
Object number SKB055
Carvings adorn the front of this early medieval stone slab from St Blane’s Chapel burial ground, Isle of Bute.
Object number SBC001
Made of gold, silver and precious gems, the Crown of Scotland is the centrepiece of the Honours of Scotland – Scotland’s Crown jewels – on display at Edinburgh Castle.
Object number EDIN052
Gifted to James IV by Pope Julius II in 1507, the Sword of State was made by Italian craftsman Domenico da Sutri.
Object number EDIN053a
The Sceptre is thought to have been a gift to James IV from Pope Alexander VI in 1494.
Object number EDIN054
Peat was once the main fuel used to heat homes in the Western Isles and this tool was made to cut it.
Object number ARN103
Harpoons like this were used by Scottish whalers in the Arctic in the early 1820s.
Object number TRH419
Pictish decoration has been carved into this stone block found in Orkney.
Object number GUR018
This heavy ball was made to be hurled at a castle’s defences from a siege machine known as a trebuchet.
Object number BTH/o/39
A large coke barrow used at Biggar Gasworks, South Lanarkshire, in the mid-20th century.
Object number BG.02.18
These wooden toy soldiers and horses were found hidden below flooring at Stirling Castle.
Object number E362
A lion with a wavy mane, its tongue sticking out a little, is carved into the outer face of this corbel.
Object number SPP002
