A study of human bones found in a mass burial ground in south-west Scotland could reveal whether Christianity had a foothold in the country before the arrival of St Columba in the middle of the 6th century.
While there is already some evidence of a major Christian settlement in the Whithorn area of Scotland – this evidence includes the Latinus Stone, the earliest Christian memorial found in Scotland, which has been dated to 450AD, researchers are hopeful that the use of modern forensic techniques on the bones – unearthed more than 30 years ago – will help confirm dates.
Julia Muir Watt, development manager at the Whithorn Trust, told The Scotsman that the finds “could confirm what people in Whithorn already believe, that it is the true cradle of Christianity in Scotland.”
A spokesman for Museum Galleries Scotland – which recently announced a £60,000 award to the research project, said advancements in research and analysis techniques since the bones were excavated mean “it is likely that the project will result in some radical discoveries in relation to dates and interpretation”.
More than 42,000 bones were collected at Whithorn, located in Dumfries and Galloway, by late archaeologist Peter Hill in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Mentioned in the 8th century writings of the Venerable Bede, St Ninian, whose mission to the Scottish people is said to have dated from 397AD, has long been connected with Whithorn.
Irish missionary St Columba founded an important monastery on the island of Iona, off Scotland’s south-west coast, in the mid-sixth century.
