18 July 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

Seven metal detectorists found 2,584 silver coins in a southwest England field “the most expensive treasure ever found in the United Kingdom”

27 October 2024

27 October 2024

In early 2019, seven metal detectorists found a cache of 2,584 silver coins dating to the Norman Conquest that had...

Ancient tools discovered in Maryland show the first humans came to America 7,000 years earlier than previously thought

23 May 2024

23 May 2024

When and how humans first settled in the Americas is a subject of considerable controversy. A Smithsonian Institution geologist now...

A Sacred Area from the Copper Age and 5000-years-old A Stele Decorated Discovered in Italy

24 August 2024

24 August 2024

The remains of a sacred area that dates back at least four thousand years have been discovered during excavations for...

Archaeologists find an Anglo-Saxon church at Stoke Mandeville excavation site

13 September 2021

13 September 2021

Archaeologists working on the HS2 project found the remains of an Anglo-Saxon church during their excavations at the former St...

Researchers measure the impact of Population Pressure on Prehistoric Violence in Japan’s Yayoi Period

23 August 2021

23 August 2021

Are wars part of human nature? Do people tend to fight instinctively or do they war as a result of...

The historic Egyptian Palace is being demolished, it may hold a surprise underneath

27 August 2021

27 August 2021

The cause for the evacuation and demolition of the ancient Tawfiq Pasha Andraos Palace, located in the precincts of the...

Archaeologists Find the Missing Link of the Alphabet

15 April 2021

15 April 2021

Researchers believe that Tel Lachish pottery is the oldest of its kind found in the region, and could explain how...

Winter Solstice Solar Alignment in Kastas Monument: Alexander the Great’s Tribute to Hephaestion

27 May 2025

27 May 2025

A revolutionary study combining archaeology and solar modeling has revealed that the Kastas Monument—the largest funerary structure of ancient Greece—was...

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...

Particle physics and archeology collaboration uncovers secret Hellenistic underground chamber in Naples

13 May 2023

13 May 2023

The ruins of the ancient necropolis of Neapolis, built by the Greeks between the end of the fourth and the...

Roman Wooden Cellar Found in Frankfurt, Germany

28 February 2024

28 February 2024

Archaeologists from the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum have recently uncovered a remarkably preserved wooden cellar in the Roman city of Nida...

1st Century BCE Medusa Mask Mold Discovered in Ancient Finziade, Sicily

24 January 2025

24 January 2025

At the Finziade archaeological site in the Sicilian town of Licata, archaeologists have discovered a mask mold that could represent...

Rock Ship of Masuda, Japan’s mysterious monolith

17 April 2023

17 April 2023

Located in the Takaichi District of Nara Prefecture, Japan, the village of Asuka is famous for its mysterious stones. The...

Archaeology team discovers a 7,000-year-old and 13-hectare settlement in Serbia

30 April 2024

30 April 2024

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown Late Neolithic settlement near the Tamiš River in Northeast Serbia. The discovery was made...

A burial complex dating to the Second Intermediate Period has been discovered at the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis at Luxor

12 April 2023

12 April 2023

At the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis in Luxor, a family burial complex from the Second Intermediate Period has been found....