The second scallop shell found

The photograph is copyright Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections and are used with permission.

About 2 months after the first scallop shell had been found a second one was found in a burial. The photograph, courtesy of the Aberdeen City Council Archaeology Unit, shows that this scallop shell was located over the left thigh. It was customary to sew the shell to a leather satchel hanging from the waist over the left leg, so this man was buried wearing the leather satchel bearing the scallop shell. The leather has not survived the centuries, but the shell has. That he was buried wearing this also indicates the importance which people placed on these pilgrimage tokens.