Cladh Hallan
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Cladh Hallan is an archaeological site on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. It is significant as the only place in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found.
In 2003, a team of scientists found two skeletons at the site, one male who had died ca. 1600 B.C., and one female who had died ca. 1300 B.C. (about the same time as King Tutankhamun of Egypt). At first the researchers did not realize they were dealing with mummies, since the soft tissue had decomposed and the skeletons had been buried. But tests revealed that both bodies had not been buried until about 1000 B.C., and that the bodies had been preserved shortly after death in a peat bog for 6 to 18 months. The preserved bodies were then apparently retrieved from the bog and set up inside a dwelling, presumably having religious significance. Archaeologists do not know why the bodies were buried centuries later. The Cladh Hallan skeletons differ from most bog bodies in two respects: unlike most bog bodies, they appear to have been put in the bog for the express purpose of preservation (whereas most bog bodies were simply interred in the bog), and unlike most bog bodies, their soft tissue was no longer preserved at the time of discovery.
The taking of the mummies to Sheffield has been a matter of controversy, and there is a campaign underway to have them returned to Scotland.
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