Archaeological treasures unearthed in the north-east of Scotland have gone on display. The collection of artefacts, dating back to the Bronze Age, is the subject of a new exhibition at Peterhead's Arbuthnot Museum (Aberdeenshire, Scotland). They include flint axe heads, jewels, urns and funeral pots - all dug up in and around Buchan.
     Also on display are mysterious decorative spheres, which are thought to be unique to the north-east. They date back to Neolithic times around 3,000 BCE - and no one knows exactly what they were used for. The most likely explanation is that they were used in some type of ancient ceremony. The spheres can vary from simple round balls to elaborately carved spheres.
     A spokesman for the museum said: "Many of these artefacts were discovered in the 19th century and have been stored very carefully. "It is great to be able to bring them together for this display." The exhibition runs until November 21 as part of Scottish Archaeology Month.

Source: The Press and Journal (15 September 2007)