The comparison of the bone modification at Loch Borralie with known examples of worked bone tools from other archaeological contexts allowed the researchers to place the Loch Borralie evidence within the established framework of bone tool production, confirming that the modification was human-made and intentional.

This detective process — the careful analysis of physical evidence, the use of comparative reference material, the application of multiple analytical methods to converge on the most supported interpretation — is the heart of what the COMMIOS project is doing across a wide range of Iron Age sites and contexts.

The Loch Borralie case is a particularly vivid example of how this process can transform the interpretation of evidence that has been sitting in storage for twenty years.

What It Changes and What It Doesn’t