Iron Age wooden figure, Ballachulish, Scotland

3D Model

The mysterious Ballachulish figure is a roughly life-sized figure of a girl or goddess, carved from a single piece of alder, with pebbles for eyes. It was found during building work in November 1880, under deep peat. It was lying face down on the gravel of an old raised beach, around 120 metres from the shore of Loch Leven. It might originally have stood beside a pool. The figure has been radiocarbon-dated to around 600 BC.

Date: c.600 BC

Found: November 1880, in Ballachulish, Nether Lochaber, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Materials: Alder, with quartzite pebbles for eyes

Dimensions: Height 1390mm, length 145mm, width 190mm

Museum reference: X.KL 54

The Ballachulish Goddess was laser scanned by Digital Heritage Age as part of The Pallasboy Project