A 1,000-year-old dirty handprint of a metal worker was found on a stone at an Orkney island in Scotland.
An excavation project uncovered a stone over 1,000 years old with a preserved handprint and knee print found at a preserved Pictish Iron Age settlement on the Rousay island in Scotland, The Guardian reported Tuesday. Archaeologists are trying to save the ancient material since tides are slowly eroding away the Pictish settlement.
The metal worker worked at an underground shop between the 6th and 9th centuries, according to BBC. The stone was preserved through a combination of dirt and grease. (RELATED: Amateur Archaeologists Find Hundreds Of Viking Artifacts In Baltics)
“We are doing all we can to gather as much information on the site before it is destroyed by the sea. A handprint is so personal and individual that you can almost feel the presence of the coppersmith and imagine what it must have been like working in there all those years ago,” Julie Bond, one of the excavation’s directors, said according to The Guardian.
#Pictish coppersmith’s 1,000-year-old handprint found in #Orkney. https://t.co/5wG6MLsY1q #Scotland pic.twitter.com/ib0y3nFZSg
— Ancient History Encyclopedia (@ahencyclopedia) July 24, 2018
The Pictish people were known for their metal work and engravings.
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