Five of Scotland’s Most Amazing Archaeological Discoveries of 2025
Traces of Neolithic feasting, evidence of a possible Roman siege, and an amulet once thought to be imbued with supernatural power are among the most ground-breaking finds.
Dig It!, a hub for Scottish archaeology coordinated by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, has compiled their annual list of some of the biggest discoveries from the year to celebrate the archaeological work that takes place across the country.
Starting with the oldest discovery on the list:
1) Evidence of Unique Neolithic Feasting in the Outer Hebrides
In September, experts concluded that crannogs (water dwellings) in the Outer Hebrides may have been hubs where people gathered and practiced unique culinary trends over 5,000 years ago.
Daniel Brown, a PhD Researcher at the University of Bristol, analysed food remains from thousands of elaborately decorated pots deposited in the water around several crannogs which date to the Neolithic period (4100 BC to 2500 BC).
According to Brown, “one of these sites was used for approximately 800 years and the pottery decorations and styles did not change over this time, which is unusual. This suggests that there was something symbolic about these particular designs at these particular places and that what was happening at these sites, and how it happened, was very important.”
This work also revealed that the pots found at the crannogs held meat products, in contrast to mainly dairy products found in pots at domestic sites, which further indicates that these crannogs were special and potentially centres of feasting.
Finally, within many of the ceramic vessels, they also found a surprisingly high amount of evidence for fish being processed, something that is very unusual in the Neolithic when compared to other regions of Britain and Ireland.
The above-water remains of Eilean Dòmhnuill on Loch Olabhat, North Uist (© Richard Law / The causeway to the settlement in Loch Olabhat / CC BY-SA 2.0 via https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2928636)
2) Rare Bronze Age Structures in Shetland
From late May to early June, volunteers helped uncover rare prehistoric structures which could shed light on a Bronze Age mystery.
Led by Archaeology Shetland and the SCAPE Trust, they unearthed a complex burnt mound and an underground corbelled structure, thought to be a well, at Gletness near Nesting, where the concentration of archaeological sites has been described by the SCAPE Trust’s Joanna Hambly as “extraordinary”.
Burnt mounds generally date to the Bronze Age (2500 BC to 800 BC). They are considered a by-product of a method for boiling water, where hot stones were dropped into a trough filled with water and accumulated, creating the mounds. Complex burnt mounds are so-called because they have cells or small rooms inside them and surviving examples of these particular structures have so far only been found in Shetland and Orkney.
However, why people heated water in this way is still unknown. Theories include beer making, cloth production, leather working, communal cooking areas, washhouses or saunas, and even that they were connected to prehistoric funerary activity.
According to Stephen Jennings FSAScot of Archaeology Shetland, “a rarity, the potential well structure was covered with slabs and included a waterlogged deposit that, with further investigation, could yield a great deal of information contemporary with the use of the burnt mound.”
Gletness volunteers (© SCAPE Trust)
3) Evidence of a Possible Roman Siege in Dumfries & Galloway
In August and September, experts collected evidence from a hillfort which may suggest that the site was besieged by an invading Roman force some 1,900 years ago, making it one of only a handful of sites in Europe that still has upstanding evidence for a Roman attack.
Alternative theories have suggested that the hillfort, which dates to the Iron Age (800 BC to AD 400), was not significant enough to warrant a Roman attack and that the hillfort was long abandoned by the time the Romans got to the site.
However, survey work by a team from the University of Glasgow, the Trimontium Trust and the University of Manchester has revealed that Burnswark Hill was far more densely occupied during the time of the Roman invasion than previously thought, which they believe means that it was large enough to provoke an attack.
Subsequent excavations also revealed traces of a major phase of rampart construction or remodelling following the Roman attack. This has been interpreted as the hillfort’s inhabitants having survived or returned after a siege and beginning to rebuild.
According to the University of Glasgow’s Dr James O’Driscoll FSAScot, “these findings offer a rare glimpse into how Iron Age communities in Scotland built, defended, and reimagined their world in response to Roman power. It’s a story of resilience, identity, and survival that challenges long-held assumptions about Scotland’s past.”
A trench over the rampart of the hillfort (© James O’Driscoll)
4) A Lost Medieval Settlement in the Borders
In May 2025, a lost medieval settlement occupied around 800 years ago was rediscovered near Horndean as part of the Uncovering the Tweed project.
Local volunteers, school pupils and young adults from Borders Additional Needs Group worked alongside archaeologists from AOC Archaeology to excavate the site in the Scottish Borders.
Horndean has long been suspected to be the location of a lost medieval village, known from historical documents and maps, but not proven until now.
The team found animal bones and pottery produced from the 12th century onwards, which represents midden (rubbish) discarded from a settlement into the enclosure ditch.
The settlement’s location adjacent to a ruined medieval church has led experts to believe that the community must have been associated with or working for the church, perhaps by providing food.
It is a rare survival of lowland rural settlement from this period, as sites like this are often heavily damaged by later ploughing.
Uncovering the Tweed’s archaeologist Cathy MacIver FSAScot said: “It is really exciting for our team of volunteers to have identified new evidence for a buried medieval site at Horndean. The unusually well-preserved animal bone in particular is going to shed new light on the diet and daily life of this medieval community living on the Tweed.”
A piece of 12th-century white gritty ware pottery from Scotland (© AOC Archaeology Group)
5) Early Modern Amulet from the Highlands
In April, the Treasure Trove Unit (TTU) confirmed the discovery of an elfshot amulet with a history that spans more than two and a half millennia.
Uncovered near Fortrose by metal detectorist Lawrence Deans, the artefact contains a Bronze Age flint arrowhead (c.2000 BC to 800 BC) which had been found by someone in the 17th or 18th century and mounted in a silver pendant as a charm.
According to TTU, horse lameness was believed to have been caused by fairies shooting the horse with stone arrowheads. Repurposing the elfshot into an amulet and keeping it close was thought to heal the horse and protect it from further injury.
After being reported to TTU by the finder, the pendant was analysed by experts before being allocated to Groam House Museum in Rosemarkie, where it will go on display in 2026.
Dr George Prew-Stell FSAScot, Treasure Trove Officer at National Museums Scotland, said: “This is a wonderful example of people in the past finding and reusing objects made by communities who lived on the same land millennia earlier. This artefact provides a rare, tangible example of two of the most wonderful things about studying historic communities: folklore, and people interacting with their own past.”
An amulet from the early modern period made of a prehistoric flint arrowhead in a silver setting (© Crown Copyright)
Dr Simon Gilmour FSAScot, Director of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, said:
“This year’s top discoveries collated by our Dig It! project bring to light human stories from Scotland’s past across five millennia; from cuisine and conflict to past beliefs and worldviews. I am particularly pleased to see how the public have played a part in many of these discoveries, whether by volunteering at an excavation or reporting their metal detecting finds to the Treasure Trove Unit.
This is just a window into the range of exciting work that took place this year. If you are considering participating in archaeological endeavours in 2026, visit the Dig It! website and subscribe to the e-newsletter to learn about opportunities in your area.”
Dr Susan O’Connor FSAScot, Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said:
“Dig It!’s list of top archaeological discoveries this year shows that history continues to be unearthed all over Scotland, and that we still have much to learn about the people who have lived, fought, and feasted on this land. Through our role as a primary funder of Dig It!, we are delighted to support archaeological stories such as these to further our understanding of Scotland’s history and heritage.”
Want to get involved? Thanks to funding from Historic Environment Scotland, we’re able to advertise free or low-cost archaeology events which are open to everyone with no experience required.
For additional details contact Sally Pentecost, Communications & Events Officer at the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Header Image: Aerial view of Gletness 2025 trenches and coastal section (© SCAPE Trust)
