Iron Age Scottish burial brain removal, bone shaping

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of complex and rare funerary rituals, including the possible removal of a woman's brain and the shaping of her bones into points, at an Iron Age burial site in northwest Scotland. The findings, detailed in a study published on June 10, 2026, in the journal Antiquity, offer new insights into familial relationships, long-distance connections, and the interaction between the living and the dead in prehistoric Britain.

The research focuses on two skeletons excavated from a low stone cairn near Loch Borralie on the Scottish mainland. The remains, of an adult woman and a juvenile male, date to between 50 BCE and 70 CE, a period just before Roman incursions into the region. A new analysis of the bones, combining osteology, isotopic studies, and ancient DNA, has revealed a detailed picture of their lives and deaths.

Genetic analysis confirmed the two individuals were most likely maternal second cousins. However, isotopic evidence indicates they did not grow up at the burial site but originated approximately 50 miles to the southeast. Their DNA also shows genetic links to populations in Orkney, about 110 miles to the northeast, and Applecross,...