ARCHEOLOGISTS are hoping to solve an ancient mystery and shed new light on Scotland's Pictish past.

A new dig is to take place at the site where possibly the best preserved skeleton from this period was unearthed in a limestone burial mound more than 30 years ago.

The remains were of a man in his 40s and the new excavations are being carried out in the surrounding area to see if there are any further relics from the time he was alive, or even other graves.

The dig could also solve the mystery of why the man was buried lying down and there were not artifacts deposited alongside him, which some believe indicate the burial was an early Christian one. Normally, Pictish remains are found curled into a fetal position.

The burial mound, or 'cist', was uncovered at Bridge of Tilt near Blair Atholl in Perthshire in 1986, and has been dated to between 340 –to 615 AD, meaning it is one of the earliest Pictish graves found so far.

The Atholl Country Life Museum will be the base for the project, which will take three days and see work taking place in people's gardens and other areas.

Over the past two years, local volunteers have undertaken geophysical surveys in gardens and open areas around where the burial was found. This survey has identified a number of anomalies which will be tested by the new excavation, which is being led by Guard Archaeology

Rulzion Rattray, Trustee at the museum, said: "The skeleton is the best we have from that period, and there's the expectation that there might be other bodies buried nearby that have never been excavated.

"We're hoping to find another one. If you go back to maps from the 1830s there's indications that there were other stones which were not excavated.

"In Gaelic they were called the 'sacrifice stones', but that was just their name for things from that era. We don't actually think they were connected to anything like human sacrifice."

The Picts held sway across much of Scotland from the late Iron Age until the early medieval period, but left no written records.

They left a number of physical markers across the landscape, however, including intricately carved standing stones and graves.

Mr Rattray added that the man burial at Blair Atholl would have been strong and muscular, indicating his day-to-day life involved physical labour.

He said: "At 40-years-old, he would have been a good age when he died, although there are no indications which caused his death. Certainly no signs of violence."

Members of the public interested in helping out are welcome to join in, and should contact the museum in Blair Atholl for further information. The dig, which began on Friday, continues over the weekend.

Archaeologists will be on hand to offer guidance to volunteers on historical research, geophysical survey and trial trenching. All equipment will be supplied.

Bob Will of Guard Archaeology said "You can never tell what evidence might be found in an investigation of this kind but the more people willing to help, the more likely we are to find something".