Gunnister Man conference as artefacts are put on display in Shetland

The Historiographer Royal in Scotland, professor Christopher Smout, is to give a lecture at a two-day conference on the Gunnister Man as artefacts found next to his body are put on display in Shetland’s Museum and Archives.

He will speak about the economy and society of Scotland and northern Europe at the turn of the 18th century when the man is believed to have lived.

Found in May 1951 by two Northmavine men digging peat near Gunnister, the remains were identified as that of a man from the late 17th or early 18th century.

The grave also contained a complete woollen suit in remarkably good condition and a number of wooden and horn artefacts. The lot was sent to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, which is returning the artefacts for an exhibition that will run from 12th September until 1st November.

The conference, which has attracted a further eight speakers, will be on the 18th and 19th of September. It will discuss who the Gunnister Man was, how he died and why he was buried in an unmarked grave in the peat moor.