29 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Fingerprints Found on Orkney Pottery Belong to Young Men

Details of the two young guys whose fingerprints were discovered on a fragment of a clay pot dating back over 5,000 years have now been revealed.

A fingerprint was discovered on a ceramic sherd recovered in April during the continuing University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute excavation of a Neolithic site on Orkney’s West Mainland.

Further examination of a digital model created by Jan Blatchford revealed two more prints, which were then examined by Professor Kent Fowler, director of the University of Manitoba’s Ceramic Technology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Canada.

Only two were detailed enough to analyze, but the results revealed it was two Neolithic males who left their mark on the wet clay vessel.

Professor Fowler was able to ascertain that one impression was made by an adolescent or adult man between the ages of 13 and 20, while the other was produced by an adult man between the ages of 15 and 22 since fingerprint components fluctuate according to age and sex.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Prof Fowler said: “Although the prints exhibit identical average ages, there is little overlap in the ridge values between the two measured prints. This suggests one print was made by an adolescent male and the other by an adult male.

Orkney pottery
A prehistoric fingerprint on a piece of pottery has revealed details about our ancient ancestors.

“Ethnographic and experimental accounts of hand-building techniques indicate that hands are normally only placed within closed-form vessels when fashioning roughouts and while manipulating the object to modify the exterior by wiping, smoothing burnishing.

“External prints can accrue during shaping or when handling the vessel after the roughout is completed, but when the clay is still leather hard and will accept prints. In this instance, it is most likely there were two print makers and the interior print was left by the potter.

“At this stage we cannot determine whether the older or younger potter was responsible for shaping operations.”

The Ness of Brodgar is the name of the thin strip of land, in the West Mainland of Orkney, that separates the lochs of Harray and Stenness.

Part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, the Ness is covered in, and surrounded by, archaeology. An excavation in 2002 revealed a massive complex of monumental Neolithic buildings along with associated artwork, including pottery, bones and stone tools.

Nick Card, the director of the Ness of Brodgar excavation, said: “With well over 80,000 pottery sherds found at the Ness of Brodgar, it can be all too easy to lose sight of the people behind them.

“This single sherd has brought two back into the spotlight and given us an unparalleled glimpse into life at the Ness complex 5,000 years ago. It also raises many questions.

“The creation of this pot involved an adolescent boy – did he fashion the vessel or was he just involved in the manufacturing process, perhaps overseen by a more experienced potter?

“Were all children engaged in the creation of pottery from an early age or was it a task that involved a select few? Were different types of vessel created by different people within the household or community?

“The analysis has much wider implications in the study of Neolithic ceramics, but we will need many more fingerprint examples before any firm conclusions can be drawn.”

Source: Scotsman

Related Articles

Archaeologists have found an intriguing Iron Age “shrine” in the Yorkshire Wolds

19 September 2021

19 September 2021

Archaeologists have discovered an interesting ancient Iron Age “shrine” in the Yorkshire Wolds, which was marked out by meticulously placed...

A pre-Hispanic ceremonial center with unknown characteristics was discovered in the Andes

15 April 2023

15 April 2023

While investigating at Waskiri, near the Lauca River and the Bolivian-Chilean border, archaeologists found an impressive circular construction on a...

Dog Kajtuś uncovers Poland’s biggest treasure of the past 100 years

21 April 2022

21 April 2022

A dog named Kajtuś discovered the biggest treasure found in Poland in the last 100 years. The treasure was found...

Turkey to Present 12 Historic Artifacts to Istanbul Patriarch

10 August 2021

10 August 2021

The government said on Monday that Turkey will deliver stolen icons from ancient local churches to Istanbul’s Fener Greek Patriarch...

3,000-year-old ‘charioteer belt’ discovered in Siberia

21 July 2023

21 July 2023

Russian archaeologists uncovered the grave of a Late Bronze Age man buried wearing a “charioteer’s belt”, a flat bronze plate...

1,400-Year-Old Ice Storage Unearthed at Baekje Fortress Reveals Ancient Korean Engineering

16 October 2025

16 October 2025

Archaeologists in South Korea have unearthed the first-ever Baekje-era ice storage facility at Busosanseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site...

A burial complex and an Ancient Dog Statue have been unearthed during excavations in Appio Latino quarter the Rome

8 January 2022

8 January 2022

Workers laying pipes for utility company Acea at Via Luigi Tosti in Rome’s Appio Latino quarter have unearthed an ancient...

Unveiling a Roman Settlement Beyond the Empire: New Discoveries in Delbrück-Bentfeld, Germany

6 April 2025

6 April 2025

Recent archaeological excavations in Delbrück-Bentfeld, located in northwestern Germany, have revealed significant evidence of a Roman settlement that existed beyond...

200 Feet to the Past: The Millennium-Old Mystery of the Himalayan Towers

8 May 2025

8 May 2025

In the remote and rugged landscapes of the Himalayas, a series of enigmatic structures known as the Himalayan Towers, or...

Archaeologists discover ‘exceptional’ ancient Roman sanctuary in near intact condition in Netherlands

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a relatively intact 1st-century Roman sanctuary in the town of Herwen-Hemeling in the province of Gelderland in...

An extremely Rare Half-Shekel Coin From Year Three of the Great Revolt discovered

21 December 2022

21 December 2022

Recent excavations by archaeologists from the Hebrew University in the Ophel area south of the Temple Mount uncovered the remains...

A protected Punic-Roman tower “Tal-Wilġa” has been turned into a building site

15 August 2021

15 August 2021

The Tal-Wilga tower, one of Malta’s Punic-Roman heritage sites, is in danger from construction work near it. The Superintendent of...

Jordan Valley Reveals Earliest Cotton Use in the Ancient Near East

18 December 2022

18 December 2022

During excavations at Tel Tsaf, a 7,000-year-old town in the Jordan Valley, Israeli archaeologists discovered the earliest evidence of cotton...

Unique finds unearthed in the ancient city of Olba in southern Türkiye

16 August 2023

16 August 2023

In the excavations carried out in the ancient city of Olba, located in the Silifke district of Mersin, in the...

Water Cultu in Hittites and Eflatunpınar Hittite Water Monument

4 February 2021

4 February 2021

The Hittites, which left their mark on the Bronze Age period in Anatolia, is a society that draws attention with...