This place is like a treasure trove. 2,300 year old harp found!

This picture is from the Daily Mail. 

In ancient Scotland, without written records, the history was handed down from father to son by word of mouth. But the essentials were often recorded in song. Important people had praise songs as a public tribute in the ancient Gaelic culture.

Cave drawings show how important was music. Flutes have been identified as the oldest instrument of all. You can find flutes to-day because they are made from bone. But the harp is made from wood, and does not last. The harp is the oldest stringed instrument known to mankind. This fragment has lasted for 2,300 years.

The fragment of this harp was found near Armadale in Skye opposite the Mallaig ferry. It was made only 100 years after the oldest harp ever found, in Persia.

Pictish stones depict harps from the 8th century. This harp dated back no less than 1400 years before that.

This is a treasure land, Scotland, it really is.

John
Links:

The real story of the Glencoe Massacre
History around Appin
The Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch. Lismore West of Scotland
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands
Glencoe, the 4th Wonder of Scotland
Castles in the Glencoe area

VIKING LONGSHIP MAY BE KEPT ON ARDNAMURCHAN

This lovely shot was taken by our guest David Minshall. Ardnamurchan is lovely, remote and mysterious still.

Remarkable place Ardnamurchan. Long lost volcano, few people, reputed hiding place of Robert the Bruce, at Castle Tioram, very scattered communities. The Vikings loved it. Throughout the ages it has been disconnected from mainstream civilisation, because of the difficulty of travel except by boat.

They have recently found the remains of a 1,000 year old Viking longship used as a burial ground for a high ranking Viking  warrior. They have found his axce, his sword, his spear, his shield boss and his bronze pin ring. There would have been an early Viking settlement here. 

Now they are hoping to stop the artefacts going to one of the major Scottish museums, and keep them on site for all of us to see.

John

The story they don't tell you about the Glencoe Massacre
History around the cottage in Appin
Did the Vikings stage a battle in Glencoe?
The Pictish broch in Lismore
West of Scotland millions of years ago
Robert the Bruce and the Ardchattan parliament
Robert the Bruce and the Knights Templar
The story of the MacDonalds of Glencoe
Ancient roads of the Highlands