The Mesolithic
The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age covers the four thousand
years between the end of the last Ice Age and the arrival into our
region of the first farming communities. Archaeology can give us
only a few glimpses of how people lived in that distant period.
The region's first settlers, probably living in small
communities made up of a few extended families,lived in a very
different landscape from the one we know today. Much of the country
was covered with a mixed woodland of oak, alder, elm and pine which
was home to a range of wild animals including wolf, deer, elk, boar
and beaver. The coast line was also different. Lower sea levels in
the early part of the Mesolithic meant that much of theSolway
Firthwas open marsh and scrubland. Sea levels began to rise during
the later part of the Mesolithic and by 5,000 BC the shore line was
almost 10 m higher than it is today. Cliff lines and raised beaches
which formed when the sea was at its maximum height can still be
seen along parts of the Wigtownshire coast. Sea levels began to
fall again during the fifth millennium BC.
Mesolithic people lived by hunting, fishing and gathering wild
plants. During much of the year they stayed in camp sites close to
the coast where they fished and hunted and foraged in the
surrounding woods for the seasonal harvest of nuts and berries.
During the summer months hunting parties moved up into the Galloway
hills following red deer and wild cattle.
Their camp sites were simple, consisting of little more than a
few animal hide tents and wind-breaks. The earliest known site in
Dumfries and Galloway is at Redkirk Point, Annan, where an
excavated hearth has been dated to 6900 BC. The hearth was covered
by marine clay which indicates that this camp was in use before the
waters of the Solway reached their maximum height.
Mesolithic camp sites are particularly common at the southern
end of Loch Ryan and on the eastern shore of Luce Bay where they
occupy sheltered positions set back from the shore line.
Excavations at Barsalloch and Low Clone in Wigtownshire have
revealed traces of hearths and clusters of stake and post holes -
the remains of simple shelters and tents - plus hundreds of flint
flakes, the debris from stone tool making. Barsalloch has been
dated to around 4,000 BC, right at the end of the Mesolithic, and
many of the other Wigtownshire coastal sites are probably of a
similar age. Earlier camps may now lie below the waters of
LuceBay.
A number of Mesolithic sites have been found alongside some of
the region's rivers. Excavations atIrish Street,Dumfriesuncovered a
camp used by people fishing the lower reaches of the river Nith and
similar sites have been found close to the Tarf Water in
Wigtownshire and on the banks of the Annan at Kirkhill in eastern
Dumfriesshire.
Similar sites have also been discovered in the uplands of
Dumfries and Galloway. Mesolithic stone tools were found during
forestry operations at Twiglees, Dumfriesshire in the 1950s and
other sites have been discovered on the shores of some of the lochs
and reservoirs in the Galloway hills. Excavations at Starr Cottage,
Loch Doon revealed a camp site dated to 4,300 BC and a similar date
has been obtained from another campsite at Smittons near
Carsphairn. Some of these upland camps may have been set up next to
woodland clearings where the open grazing attracted wild animals.
There is even some evidence from pollen cores taken in the Galloway
hills that Mesolithic hunters were deliberately burning woodland to
create grazing areas.
Mesolithic tools
Mesolithic people used bone, wood, bark and stone for their
tools and weapons but generally it is only the stone implements
which have survived. A rare exception is a carved antler harpoon
head from the Dee at Cumstoun, Kirkcudbrightshire which has been
dated to 4800 BC. Similar bone harpoons have been found in
Ayrshire, the Firth of Forth and at cave sites near Oban. They were
probably used in seal hunting.
Flintcobbles can sometimes be found on local
beaches. This type of flint is particularly common in Wigtownshire.
It is a poor quality stone but could be worked or knapped to create
a range of simple blades and scrapers, useful for cutting and
cleaning animal hides. In Dumfriesshire chert was often used
instead of flint for stone tool making. Chert has similar
properties to flint and is found throughout the Southern Uplands.
Tools made from quartz and amethyst have also been found at some
Mesolithic sites in Dumfriesshire
Mesolithic people in Dumfries and Galloway produced a range of
distinctive stone tools. These include:
Microliths. These are small, narrow blades
which have been blunted along one edge and often at one end. They
were attached in series to a wooden haft or handle to create a
range of composite cutting tools. They were also mounted as blades
on arrow shafts. See:Luce Bay; Blairbuy for examples in the
Dumfries and Galloway Museums Service collection.
Narrow blade cores. Blocks of flint from which
one or more blades have been detached. The small size of the cores
and the narrow scars left behind by blade removal are typically
Mesolithic. See: Low Clone for examples in theDumfriesand Galloway
Museums Service collection.
Scrapers. Small flakes, worked along one edge
and used for cleaning skins and fish. See: Low Clone; Kilfillan for
examples in theDumfriesand Galloway Museums Service collection.
Bevel-ended tools. Long, water rolled stone
cobbles with signs of wear or hammering at one end. Sometimes
called limpet hammers and thought to have been used in shell fish
collecting. They may also have been used for softening hides and
skins and in flint working. See: Chippermore for examples in the
Dumfries and Galloway Museums Service collection.