From Tooth to Bead: Investigating Skara Brae's Ornament Assemblage
Thu 01 Oct
|Kirkwall
Why were Neolithic people at Skara Brae collecting teeth and transforming them into beads over 5,000 years ago? Join Emma to find out how her research is helping us better understand these small but significant objects.
Time & Location
01 Oct 2026, 19:00 – 20:30
Kirkwall, Kirkwall, UK
About
This talk explores the remarkable bead assemblage from the Late Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae, where tooth beads account for approximately 70% of the personal ornaments discovered at the site.
Emma's research combines artefact analysis, biomolecular analysis, experimental archaeology and wear analysis to investigate how teeth were selected, acquired and made into beads. By re-examining the artefacts and archaeological records almost a century after their excavation, her research is uncovering new insights into the technologies, choices and potential social roles that underpinned these objects in Neolithic Orkney.
Emma Jones has worked alongside James Dilley at AncientCraft since 2020, specialising in the experimental replication of prehistoric personal ornaments. Her first major undertaking was the replication of the Poltalloch Necklace, an Early Bronze Age jet spacer-plate necklace. Since then she has worked with a range of heritage organisations to bring prehistory to life.
She is currently undertaking a Master's by Research at the University of…