News

An early Bronze Age necklace and bracelet have been painstakingly restored by experts at National Museums Scotland. The jewellery will be seen in its original form for the first time in over 4000 years when it goes on display at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum this September, to coincide with Scottish Archaeology Month.  

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, Ms Forbes, today announced the appointment of Hermione Cockburn, Judith Cruickshank, Alistair Hetherington, Sally Mackay and Niki McKenzie to the Board of Trustees of National Museums Scotland.

Two unique Jurassic fossil discoveries from the Isle of Skye have shown that mammals in the time of the dinosaurs grew more slowly and lived longer than mammals today. 

Rare objects representing thousands of years of island life, from the Neolithic to the Viking Age, go on display this week in Lewis. More than 40 artefacts on loan from National Museums Scotland, including some displayed for the first time, feature in new exhibitions at Comunn Eachdraidh Nis and the Kinloch Historical Society Museum. 

A silver casket believed to have been owned by Mary, Queen of Scots and which was acquired by National Museums Scotland in 2022 has undergone fresh conservation work ahead of going on tour to Kirkcudbright and Stirling.  

An international team of scientists have described new fossils of Dinocephalosaurus orientalis - a five-metre-long aquatic reptile from the Triassic period of China, dating to around 240 million years old.  

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 
20 January to 6 May 2024 

National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh 

National Museums Scotland has acquired a fleece from Dolly the Sheep. The fleece, which recently appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, has been donated to the National Collections by Dr William A. Ritchie, the embryologist on the Roslin Institute team that created Dolly, the world’s first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

The story of the remarkable discovery of a group of Egyptian objects uncovered at Melville House in Fife between 1952 and 1984 is being told in full for the first time in an article published in the upcoming Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 

A very rare 16th century silver-gilt ewer and basin have been acquired for the nation and allocated to National Museums Scotland under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an incredibly rare 5000-year-old Neolithic tomb that was largely destroyed without record in the 19th century.

This week will see maths-related activities taking place across the country in the annual Maths Week Scotland programme. The theme of this year’s programme, which is coordinated by National Museums Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government, is Maths in Motion.