Letter: Tomb team

I DO hope the work of archaeologist David Lawrence regarding the Tomb of the Eagles (9 March) has been wrongly reported. He claims the building is a tomb, but where is this proof?

Later groups may have used it thus, but was that its original purpose? The bones lying around it require carbon dating and DNA testing to see if they are of the right period and provenance, but even then wrong conclusions may be drawn.

The brutality could have been caused by (or even to) invading sea-born marauders rather than peaceful neolithic farmers. That they were interred at all is unusual as corpses were usually dealt with by sky burials and cremation.

Far too often archaeologists reveal their lack of scientific correctness by working to a preconceived agenda and creating scenarios that go way beyond the facts. To disregard the lack of incontrovertible hard evidence and claim that nearly every ancient structure is either a temple or a tomb is worse than irresponsible. I hope David Lawrence has avoided such errors.

Tim Flinn

Garvald

East Lothian