Low Clone (south)

Low Clone is a site which had yielded several scatters of neolithic flints, and was subsequently excavated between 1965-6. It was at this site (also known as Low Clone South) that the centre of a large scooped area was discovered, with stone settings and stake holes imply an associated light shelter or habitation. A total number of over 1600 Mesolithic flints of various types have come from this site, which appears to have been seasonally occupied. The flints are comparable with those found at Barsalloch, for which a radio-carbon date of 4050 BC has been obtained. The majority of these were found on the site of a 50 foot cliff, which once would have marked the edge of the land due to higher sea levels.   An old cliff line relating to the time of higher sea levels surrounds part of the Galloway peninsula, and many mesolithic sites have been recorded here, particularly around Luce Bay. People settled on the high land above the beach, choosing locations with fresh water and setting up camps in sheltered spots slightly back from the cliff edge. Coastal sites have been traced up the Solway as far as Redkirk Point, near Gretna, where a hearth has been dated to 8000 years before the present. Evidence has also been found for later settlements along the modern day coastline.