8 August 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.

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

In Moravia, archaeologists discover divine thrones, thousands of artifacts and a new settlement

13 August 2021

13 August 2021

During a four-year dig in the Moravian city (Czech Republic) of Perov, rare gems, mysterious burial places, and divine thrones...

Ancient tombs discovered at Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral

15 March 2022

15 March 2022

Archaeologists discovered several graves and a leaden sarcophagus possibly dating from the 14th century at Paris’ Notre Dame church, France’s...

The oldest meerschaum artifact found in Anatolia; of Çavlum Seal

18 July 2021

18 July 2021

The stamp seal unearthed during the rescue excavations of Çavlum Village on the Eskişehir Alpu Plain is the oldest meerschaum...

6,000-Year-Old Temple with Blood Channel and Altar Unearthed in Eastern Türkiye

15 July 2025

15 July 2025

Archaeologists have discovered a 6,000-year-old temple site during ongoing excavations in the village of Tadım, located in Elazığ Province, eastern...

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

23 March 2023

23 March 2023

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside...

Intricate Design Revealed on 1100-Year-Old Gold-Inlaid Ritual Spear from Japan’s Island of the Gods

13 June 2025

13 June 2025

A recent archaeological breakthrough on Japan’s sacred Okinoshima Island has unveiled an ornately decorated iron spear from the late Kofun...

Remarkable Discovery: Roman-British Coins Hoard Unearthed Near Utrecht, Netherlands

29 January 2025

29 January 2025

In 2023, a unique collection of 404 silver and gold coins dating back to 46 A.D. has been discovered by...

A 3300-year-old seal and a dagger/sword reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were discovered in the Heart of western Anatolia

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

A unique 3300-year-old seal and a sword/dagger reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were unearthed during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı...

One More Missing Links of Evolution Found

29 April 2021

29 April 2021

There is a phenomenon of missing links in the theory of evolution. Theorists of evolution continue to find these missing...

A well-preserved comb discovered in a 4th-century rare Alemannic chamber grave in Germany

4 September 2024

4 September 2024

During a rescue excavation in the center of the village of Gerstetten, located in the Heidenheim district of southwestern Germany,...

In the ancient city of Syedra: a unique mosaic with the 12 labors of Heracles depicted on a single panel found

25 July 2022

25 July 2022

During the excavations in the ancient city of Syedra in the Alanya district of Antalya, approximately 164 square meters of...

In the Black Sea, there is a “Ship Graveyard” with 2,500 years of wrecked ships

15 February 2022

15 February 2022

The Black Sea is the inland sea lying between Europe and Asia. Blacksea is located in Eurasia, surrounded by Europe,...

The Mystery of the Hekatompedon: An Ancient Shepherd’s Graffiti Sheds New Light on the Mystery of the Acropolis’ Lost Temple

13 June 2024

13 June 2024

The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments, the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed to the world by ancient Greece,...

Storms uncover precious marble cargo from a 1,800-year-old Mediterranean shipwreck in Israel

15 May 2023

15 May 2023

Numerous rare marble artifacts have been found at the site of a 1,800-year-old shipwreck in shallow waters just 200 meters...

Mysterious Rods Found in 5,500-year-old Tomb identified to Be Earliest Drinking Straws

19 January 2022

19 January 2022

Russian archaeologists argue that the rods unearthed in an early bronze age tomb in the Caucasus are the oldest known...