Glencoe Museum
The Ballachulish Figure is an almost life-size humanoid wooden figure, found in 1880 during peat cutting in advance of building work at Ballachulish Moss, Lochaber. It was discovered at the base of a peat bog, lying face down on the gravel of an old raised beach 120m from the shore of Loch Leven. Carved of a single block of alder, at the time of its discovery it stood to almost five feet tall. It was interpreted as female. She had a large, heavy and oval-shaped head with inset quartz eyes, large ears, a distinct nose and mouth and a round chin. Outlined on her body were arms starting halfway round her back, hands and fingers. Her trunk was straight and continued into separated legs which joined into a pedestal base. This had a rectangular hollow carved into the front of it.
The figure was initially thought to be of early Scandinavian origin, but has since been radiocarbon dated to 728-524 cal BC, making the figure of Early Iron Age date. There is a replica held at Glencoe Museum and the original can now be found at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Location: Glencoe Folk Museum, Ballachulish PH49 4HS
Highland Objects 