Prehistoric Scotland
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Archaeology and geology continue to reveal the secrets of prehistoric Scotland, uncovering a complex past before the Romans brought Scotland into the scope of recorded history. Successive human cultures tended to be spread across Europe or further afield, but focusing on this particular geographical area sheds light on the origin of the widespread remains and monuments in Scotland, and on the background to the history of Scotland.
The extent of open countryside untouched by intensive farming, together with past availability of stone rather than timber, has given Scotland a wealth of accessible sites where the ancient past can be seen.
The remote prehistory of Scotland
Scotland is geologically alien to Europe, comprising a sliver of the ancient continent of
This tectonic activity produced the basis of Scotland's topography: ancient mountains in the North and South of the country, partially eroded by 400 million years of water and ice with a wide fertile valley between them, and a newer, wilder western terrain. With Scotland now in the northern temperate zone, it was subjected to numerous glaciations in the
Before modern humans
During the last
Glaciers then scoured their way across most of Britain, and it was only after the ice retreated about 15,000 years ago that Scotland again became habitable.
Hunter-gatherers
As the climate improved,
An early settlement at Cramond, near what is today Edinburgh, has been dated to around 8500 BC. Pits and stakeholes suggest a hunter-gatherer encampment, and microlith stone tools made at the site predate finds of similar style in England. Although no bones or shells had survived in the acidic soils, numerous carbonised hazelnut shells indicate cooking in a similar way to finds at other Mesolithic period sites, including the slightly earlier Star Carr and the Howick house in Northumberland, dated to 7600 BC ("Britain's oldest house"), where post holes indicate a very substantial construction, interpreted as a permanent residence for hunting people. This suggests that hunter-gatherers could also have settled down in Scotland.
Other sites on the east coast and at lochs and rivers, and large numbers of rock shelters and shell middens around the west coast and islands, build up a picture of highly mobile people, often using sites seasonally and having boats for fishing and for transporting stone tools from sites where suitable materials were found. Finds of flint tools on Ben Lawers and at Glen Dee (a mountain pass through the Cairngorms) show that these people were capable of travelling well inland across the hills.
At a rock shelter and shell midden at Sand, Applecross in Wester Ross facing Skye, excavations have shown that around 7500 BC people had tools of bone, stone and antlers, were living off shellfish, fish, and deer using "pot boiler" stones as a cooking method, were making beads from seashells, and had ochre pigment and used shellfish which can produce purple dye.
Farmers and monument builders
The remainder of this section focuses mainly on the
At the stone house at
The houses at
About 6 miles (10 km) from Skara Brae,
Like the standing stones at
Further evidence can be found in Kilmartin Glen with its Stone Circles, Standing Stones and Rock Art
The widespread connections of these people are shown by offerings imported from Cumbria and Wales and left on the sacred hilltop at Cairnpapple Hill, West Lothian, as early as 3500 BC.
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Ring of Brodgar, Orkney
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Jade axehead, imported from theItalian Alps
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The 'Westray Wife'
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Cup and ring marks
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The Towie carved stone ball
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Carved stone balls
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Stone mace and axes
Bronze Age
The cairns and
The Clava cairns and standing stones near Inverness show complex geometries and astronomical alignments, with smaller, perhaps individual, tombs instead of the communal Neolithic tombs.[7]
Mummies dating from 1600 to 1300 BC have been discovered at Cladh Hallan on South Uist.
During the first millennium BC, the society changed dramatically to a chiefdom model, as consolidation of settlement led to the concentration of wealth and underground stores of surplus food.[8]: 11
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All-over corded beaker, Bell Beaker culture
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Gold lunula, Lanarkshire, 2300-2000 BC[9]
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Jet necklace, c. 2140-1900 BC[10]
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Bronze swords, c. 1000 BC
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Bronze Age horse harness
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Bronze spearheads
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Bronze shield
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Cairnpapple Hill burial and ritual site
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Gold armlet and neck torc, c. 1000 BC
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Adabrock Hoard, Isle of Lewis, c. 1000 BC
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Bronze razor, c. 900 BC
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Wooden wheel remains, Blair Drummond, 1260-810 BC
Iron Age
From around 700 BC and extending into Roman times, the Iron Age was an age of forts and defended farmsteads, which support the image of quarrelsome tribes and petty kingdoms recorded by the Romans. Evidence that at times occupants neglected the defences might suggest that symbolic power was as significant as warfare.[11]
Larger fortified settlements expanded, such as the
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Illustration of Caledonian king Calgacus
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Horse helmet, 300-200 BC.[13]
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Gold torcs, Stirling hoard, 300-100 BC
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Stirling hoard gold torc, 300-100 BC
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Scabbard, c. 1st century AD
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Deskford carnyx & reconstruction.[14]
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Carnyx reconstruction
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Horse harness, Middlebie Hoard, 1st-2nd century AD.[15]
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Bronze bracelets, c. 100 AD
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Reconstruction of an Iron Age chariot.[16]
See also
- Timeline of prehistoric Scotland
- Prehistoric Orkney
- Prehistoric Britain
- List of prehistoric structures in Great Britain
- Early history of Ireland
- Genetic history of the British Isles
References
- ^ Haworth, Jenny (10 April 2009) "Scotland's most ancient home found – at 14,000 years old" The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
- ^ "Earliest site in Scotland discovered" Archived 2010-10-10 at the Wayback Machine. biggararchaeology.org.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "South end of Loch Lomond (Geomorphology)" Archived 2006-06-16 at archive.today. Scottish Geology. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- S2CID 163495241. Archived from the originalon 11 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-00-712693-4.
- ^ Moffat, Alistair (2005) Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History. London. Thames & Hudson. Page 154.
- ^ Kruse, S. 2021. Case Study: Clava Type Cairns. Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF), accessed April 2022
- ISBN 9780199601646.
- ^ "Gold lunula". National Museums Scotland.
- ^ "Spacer-Plate Necklace". Bute Museum.
- ^ Kruse, S. et al 2021. Iron Age. Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF), accessed April 2022.
- ^ "Mousa Broch". Historic Environment Scotland.
- ^ "The Torrs pony cap". National Museums Scotland.
- ^ "Deskford carnyx". National Museums Scotland.
- ^ "Middlebie Hoard". National Museums Scotland.
- ^ "Newbridge Chariot reconstruction". National Museums Scotland.
Further reading
- Scotland Since Prehistory: Natural Change and Human Impact, by ISBN 1-898218-03-X
- Mesolithic Scotland and Its Neighbours, by ISBN 0-903903-28-8
- Scotland: From Prehistory to the Present, by Fiona Watson, 2003, ISBN 0-7524-2591-9
- The Early Prehistory of Scotland, by ISBN 0-585-10420-4
- The Later Prehistory of the Western Isles of Scotland, by Ian Armit, 1992, ISBN 0-86054-731-0
- Prehistoric Scotland, by Ann MacSween and Mick Sharp, 1989, ISBN 0-7134-6173-X
- Guide to Prehistoric Scotland, by Richard Feachem, 1977, Simon & Schuster
- Prehistoric Scotland, by Richard Feachem and Urho Kekkonen, 1963
- A Guide to Prehistoric Scotland, by Richard Feachem, 1963, Batsford
- Prehistoric Scotland, by Vere Gordon Childe, 1940, G Bell and Sons
- The Prehistory of Scotland, by Vere Gordon Childe, 1935, K Paul, Trench, Trubner & co
- Prehistoric Scotland and Its Place in European Civilization, by Robert Munro, 1899, W Blackwood and sons
- Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF)
- Toghill, Peter, The Geology of Britain, an introduction, Airlife (2000), ISBN 1-84037-404-7
- The Other Orkney Book, Gordon Thomson, Northabout Publishing 1980, ISBN 0-907200-00-1
- Scotland Before History, Stuart Piggott, Edinburgh University Press 1982, ISBN 0-7524-1400-3
- Scotland's Hidden History, Ian Armit, Tempus (in association with Historic Scotland) 1998, ISBN 0-85224-348-0
External links
- ScottishGeology.com
- BBC - History - Britain's Oldest House? A Journey into the Stone Age
- History Scotland Magazine: First Settlers - Sand
- The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map: Rubbish dump reveals time-capsule of Scotland's earliest settlements
- The National Trust for Scotland - Press Releases - Archaeological find at Mar Lodge Estate