Top 100 objects

Browse key artefacts from our properties across the country.

Displaying 41-60 of 97

Tairsgeir (Peat cutter)

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

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Arnol No 42 Blackhouse

Object type: Peat cutter; Tairsgeir

Recumbent gravestone

This massive stone is a Pictish grave cover.

Object number MEIG011

Time Period: Early medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Meigle

Object type: Grave slab

Cauldron

Food was once cooked over open fires in cauldrons like this one.

Object number TANT156

Time Period: 17th century, Post-medieval

Property Information: Tantallon Castle

Object type: Cauldron

The Crown of Scotland

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

Time Period: 16th century, Post-medieval

Property Information: Edinburgh Castle

Object type: Crown

The Sword of State

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

Time Period: 16th century, Post-medieval

Property Information: Edinburgh Castle

Object type: Sword

Mass-dial

Monks at Inchcolm Abbey used this medieval sundial to get to their prayers on time.

Object number INCL/o/5

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Inchcolm Abbey

Object type: Mass dial

Sceptre

The Sceptre is thought to have been a gift to James IV from Pope Alexander VI in 1494.

Object number EDIN054

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Edinburgh Castle

Object type: Sceptre

Urinal

Long before there were en-suite bathrooms, there were urinals like this one.

Object number MEL440

Time Period: Late medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Melrose Abbey

Object type: Pot

Ballot box

Tropical tamarind seeds were used with this mahogany ballot box to cast votes at Trinity House.

Object number TRH062

Time Period: 18th century, Modern

Property Information: Trinity House

Object type: Ballot box

Column base

The bottom of this column base from St Andrews Cathedral shows us how a stonemason would set out designs in the early 1200s.

Object number SAC/cb/5

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: St Andrews Cathedral

Object type: Column base

Stencil

This copper stencil with handle was used to mark whisky barrels at Dallas Dhu Distillery.

Object number DHU039

Time Period: 20th century, Modern

Property Information: Dallas Dhu Distillery

Object type: Stencil

Ink pot

Monks at Arbroath Abbey likely used this rare ink pot dating from the 1400s.

Object number ARB066

Time Period: Late medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Arbroath Abbey

Object type: Ink pot

St Columba's Pillow

Popularly known as ‘St Columba’s Pillow’, this stone was so famous in the early 1900s that it was put in a metal cage for safe-keeping.

Object number IONA060

Time Period: Early medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Iona Abbey

Object type: Grave marker

Telescope

A brass telescope thought to have belonged to the first lighthouse keeper at Kinnaird Head.

Object number KH213

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Kinnaird Head

Object type: Telescope

Mons Meg

This six-tonne siege gun is what cutting edge military technology once looked like.

Object number XIX.13

Time Period: Late medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Edinburgh Castle

Object type: Bombard/Cannon

Musket

This India pattern flintlock musket with a 39-inch barrel can be seen on display at Fort George.

Object number HBM3709

Time Period: 18th century, Modern

Property Information: Fort George

Object type: Musket

Ochre grinding mortar

Traces of ochre still dot this mortar (grinding vessel) found at Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement on Orkney.

Object number X.HA.28

Time Period: Neolithic, Prehistoric

Property Information: Skara Brae

Object type: Mortar

Bone whistle

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

Time Period: Neolithic, Prehistoric

Property Information: Skara Brae

Object type: Musical Instrument

Painting - View of the Clyde and Dumbarton Rock

Painted in the 1850s, this oil landscape shows Dumbarton Rock from the south bank of the River Clyde.

Object number DUM373

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Dumbarton Castle

Object type: Painting

Glass vessel fragments (Islamic)

These small fragments of glass probably came from a drinking beaker.

Object number OCAE027

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Old Caerlaverock Castle

Object type: Glass

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