Gunnister Man

The Gunnister Man is the name given to the remains of a man buried around 1700 in a peat bog at Gunnister, in Northmavine on the Mainland of Shetland, Scotland. He was discovered on 12 May 1951 by two men cutting peat for fuel. Although little of his body survived, his woollen clothing and personal possessions were exceptionally well preserved.

The man had been deliberately buried fully dressed, wearing several layers of woollen clothing, including a shirt, breeches, stockings, gloves, two knitted caps and heavily worn and repaired outer garments. His identity and cause of death are unknown. Discovery

The individual now known as Gunnister Man was discovered on 12 May 1951, approximately 250 years after his burial, by James Bigland and James Johnson, who were cutting peat for fuel in a bog at Gunnister, in the parish of Northmavine on the Mainland of Shetland, Scotland. While removing peat, they uncovered human remains together with clothing and personal possessions, approximately below the peat surface.

Condition The only remains of the body were a piece of skull with dark hair, finger and toe nails, fragments of bone from the sleeves and in one stocking. Clothing and associated items

The Gunnister Man was buried fully dressed in woollen clothing, which was well preserved when the body was discovered.

One possibility is that he died while travelling across the moor in winter. In 1951, Shetland antiquarian Peter Moar suggested that the man had died in wintry weather and was found and buried where he lay later in the year. His clothing also indicates cold weather. He wore several layers of woollen clothing, including a ragged outer jacket apparently added for extra warmth, as well as long stockings, gloves and a knitted cap. In 2009, Shetland Museum and Archives produced full replicas of every object from the burial for a permanent Gunnister Man display in Lerwick.

The knitted purse was originally a natural mixed grey colour with stripes in red and white. It is difficult to determine whether the man's garments were knitted in Shetland or elsewhere, but even if they were imported they demonstrate that stranded knitting, now known as Fair Isle knitting, was present in Shetland by the beginning of the 18th century. His gloves are finely knitted with decorative stitches on the backs of the hands and gauntlets, and resemble other gloves of the period. The right glove is more heavily worn and patched than the left, suggesting that he was right-handed.