Fig. 233.—Tool of Bone found in the Broch of Burrian (actual size). Among the objects of personal use are sixteen combs, most of them more or less broken, but several still in a fair state of preservation.
Fig. 234.—Round-backed Comb of Bone from Broch of Burrian (half actual size).
Fig. 235.—Double-edged Comb of Bone from Broch of Burrian (half actual size). One is round-backed and single-edged (Fig. [234]), measuring 3 inches by 2 inches, the back pierced with three triplets of small holes, and ornamented with a profusion of dots and circle markings. It is formed of five thin slips of bone laid together lengthwise, and held in their places by two slips laid transversely across them on opposite sides, and fastened by four iron rivets. The teeth of the comb have been very regularly cut by a fine saw, and the saw-marks on the under edges of the transverse slips show that the cutting of the teeth was performed after the pieces of the comb were fastened together. The rest of the combs are all double-edged. One measuring 2¾ inches by 2 inches (Fig. [235]), is formed of four slips of bone inserted between two transverse slips, and held together by three rivets of iron.
Fig. 236.—Double-edged Comb of Bone from Broch of Burrian (5½ inches in length). The transverse slips are ornamented by a single line incised along each border, and by four sets of two concentric circles with central dots ranged at equal distances along the centre of the slips. The teeth are widely but regularly cut, narrowing towards the points, and those towards the sides of the comb shorter than those in the middle. Another comb of the same character (Fig. 236) measures 5½ inches in length, by 2 inches in breadth. This is the largest comb obtained from a Broch. It is formed of six slips of bone enclosed between two transverse slips fastened by five rivets of iron. Above and below each rivet is an ornamented dot and circle marking. A similar marking is placed in the centre of each of the broad terminal teeth at either end of the comb. The transverse slips are much marked by the saw. The teeth are well cut and regular in length and thickness; they show strongly the marks of wear by use, chiefly towards their bases, where minute transverse lines are worn deeply into the corners of the teeth, almost completely encircling them. Besides these combs for the hair, there were found no fewer than eighteen of the long-handled combs, which are of such frequent occurrence among the relics recovered from Brochs. That shown in Fig. 233 appears to be of deerhorn, but they are mostly made from portions of the outer table of the jaw-bone of the whale. They vary in length from 3 inches to 5½ inches.
Fig. 237.—Long-handled Comb from the Broch of Burrian, Orkney (4¾ inches in length). They also vary considerably in the size and form of the teeth, some, like Fig. 238, having teeth that are short and pointed, and rounded in section, while the teeth of others, like those in Fig. 239, are longer, less pointed, and more rectangular in section.
