THE tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh was uncovered this month for the first time since Tutankhamun’s more than 100 years ago — and it was all thanks to a Scots archaeologist.
Piers Litherland, from Galashiels, located the original resting place of Thutmose II — who lived 3,500 years ago — in the Western Valleys of the Theban Necropolis in Egypt.
Pictures show the entrance to the 3500-year old tomb in Egypt[/caption]
But Piers is following in the footsteps of a long line of Scot explorers who made their mark in the field of archaeology.
Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS looks at other remarkable discoveries which have helped change our understanding of history.
DINOSAUR HAUL
Fossil expert Dugald Ross shows Matt Bendoris around his fossil museum.[/caption]
CROFTER and dino enthusiast Dugald was part of a team from Edinburgh University who back in 2016 uncovered one of the best-preserved skeletons of a pterosaur.
The beast, which was given the Gaelic name Dearc sgiathanach, which translates as “winged reptile”, was one of the world’s first flying vertebrates.
Dugald says: “I can’t empathise how fantastic it was to be associated with that.”
And Dugald, 63, was doubly chuffed when researchers decided to give the flying beast, which had a wingspan of over 8ft, a name that was linked with his home isle.
He added: “Skye is called the winged isle, so it also means ‘the reptile from the Isle of Skye’.”
KING’S SKULL
The skull found at the Grey Friars excavation in Leicester.[/caption]
PHILIPPA Langley made one of the most significant archaeological finds of modern times in 2012 — when she found the skeleton of King Richard III under a council car park in Leicester.
The head of the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society used past research on the whereabouts of the ancient Greyfriars Church near to where the last king to die in battle had hastily been buried.
Edinburgh-based Philippa, 62, right, said she experienced a “strange sensation” in the Social Services car park at a space with the letter R for reserved. She said she “knew in my innermost being that Richard’s body lay there”.
And she was right, receiving an MBE for her incredible discovery.
CHESSMEN OF LEWIS
The Lewis Chessmen at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.[/caption]
THE chess pieces carved from walrus ivory were discovered in a sandbank on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis back in 1831.
Local Malcolm “Sprot” MacLeod found the treasure trove in a small stone kist in a dune — and briefly put them on display in his byre before deciding to sell them on.
The chess pieces were probably made in the late 12th or early 13th century in Norway and provided an insight into the connections between Scotland and the countries in Scandinavia.
In 2019 a warder piece from the set, that had lay in a drawer for more than 50 years, was sold at a Sotheby’s for £735,000 to an undisclosed buyer.
GALLOWAY HOARD
Derek McLennan with a Minelab metal detector and holding ingots from a hoard of Viking treasure.[/caption]
METAL detectorist Derek McLennan discovered one of the biggest Viking treasure troves ever unearthed in Scotland.
Derek, 58, from Ayrshire, said that he was left “speechless” when he found more than 100 gold, silver, glass, crystal, stone, and earthenware objects on Church of Scotland grounds in Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, in 2014.
National Museums Scotland raised £1.98million to acquire the treasure trove of items for the nation, but the Church of Scotland took legal action for a share of the jackpot.
The treasure hunter settled the long-standing legal dispute with the church leaders in 2023.
DR DAVID LIVINGSTONE
Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone first visited Africa as a missionary.[/caption]
ARGUABLY one of Scotland’s most famous explorers when he discovered the Victoria Falls, right, on the Zambezi river in 1855 and named them in honour of his queen.
The missionary, below right, born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire in 1813, was well regarded for his exploits.
They were immortalised in 1939 film Stanley And Livingstone — with the line “Dr Livingstone, I presume?” becoming immortalised.
However, his African explorations were largely seen as being a disaster.
His wife Mary died from malaria. He only managed to convert one person to Christianity and he died from dysentery in Zambia in 1873 at the age of 60.
IRON AGE CHARIOT
The site of the Iron Age chariot, which was found with human remains including tooth enamel.[/caption]
AN Iron Age chariot — dubbed the Ferrari of its day — was unearthed by builders on a construction site near Newbridge, Edinburgh, in 2001.
The 2,500-year-old chariot, below, is believed to have been used in a burial between 475-400BC and is the only one of its kind discovered in Scotland. Chariot burial was a ritual practice in Europe at the time and demonstrated that Iron Age Scotland had direct contact with the continent.
Fraser Hunter, principal curator of Iron and Roman Age Collections at the National Museums of Scotland, said: “Because the soil was so acidic the body itself did not survive, but we can say the owner was a high-status person.”
