Knives and blade from Tormore, Arran.


These two knives and blade of flint were found in a chambered cairn at Tormore on the island of Arran, together with a stone macehead, fragments of pottery vessels, flakes, blades and scrapers. The items had been deposited in the tomb as grave goods.

The knives and blade had been made from high quality flint, and either they or the parent flint nodes had almost certainly been imported from northeast Ireland.

They had been made with great skill, and appear to have been unused when placed in the tomb.

Many of Scotland’s early farming communities buried their dead in communal tombs. Various offerings for the afterlife were included, such as food, in pots or as joints of meat, and everyday possessions such as flint arrowheads and tools.