Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into tools

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

15 June 2026

The female individual’s brain was removed after her death, but her remains were carefully reassembled for her interment.

An individual buried some 2,000 years ago in what is now Scotland probably had her brain removed and some of her limb bones turned into tools after she died1.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01833-w

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