A cache of coins secreted away in a Scottish stone fireplace may have belonged to a clan chief killed in a 17th-century massacre, according to archaeologists excavating the remains of a hunting lodge in Glencoe. The diverse collection of coins was likely hidden by someone unable to return and retrieve them.

The 36 silver and bronze coins vary in date from the late 1500s through the 1680s. Most of them were made locally, but coins from France and the Spanish Netherlands (today, largely the area of Belgium and Luxembourg) were also present, possibly mementos of Maclain’s youthful travels abroad.

“What’s really exciting is that these coins are no later than the 1680s,” Michael Given, a senior lecturer of archaeology and co-director of the project, said in the statement. "So were they buried in a rush as the Massacre started first thing in the morning of the 13th February 1692?