Medieval Hair Styling Tool Recovered at Scottish Castle

Archaeologists excavating at Eilean Donan Castle in the Highlands have uncovered a rare medieval hair-styling tool known as a gravoir. The 13th-century implement, carved from red deer antler, would once have been used to part and shape hair and is the first of its kind found in Scotland and one of very few known in the UK. It was discovered alongside hundreds of other objects that reveal daily life at the castle, including brooches, dress pins, metalworking tools and children’s game pieces. The gravoir has now been acquired for the National Museums Scotland collection.