While the caves round Oban, on the west coast of Scotland, are famous for their Mesolithic artefacts, they have also produced Bronze Age finds and numerous burials. Radiocarbon dates on human bones from one cave show these to be Iron Age, suggesting the Obanian assemblages are composites accumulated over millennia.
The An Corran rockshelter, on the north-east coast of the Trotternish peninsula, Skye, contained a series of shell midden and other deposits with evidence for human occupation from Mesolithic and later periods. A rescue investigation of the site in the winter of 1993-94, immediately prior to anticipated total destruction by rock-blasting for roadworks, included the excavation of a trench dug down to bedrock. A total of 41 separate contexts were identi-fied. Of these, 31 were recent or later prehistoric, the upper levels containing a series of hearths of recent date and an Iron Age copper-alloy pin. The lowest 10 layers were identified initially as Mesolithic on the basis of bone tool and lithic typology, but a series of 18 radiocarbon dates indicates they contain the residues of subsequent prehistoric activity as well. These layers consisted of several distinct areas of midden, below which there were two, possibly three, horizons which probably, based on the presence of broad blade microliths, represent Early Mesolithic activity. The midden layers also contained some human bones radiocarbon-dated to the Neolithic period. The rockshelter was located below an outcrop of baked mudstone and near a source of chalcedonic silica. Both these lithic raw materials were widely used during the Mesolithic as far away as the island of Rum.
The rich collections of bone and antler objects from Foshigarry and Bac Mhic Connain, two Iron Age wheelhouse complexes on North Uist, are analysed to determine the raw materials used (species and anatomical parts) and the production technology of artefact manufacture. Comparison is made with contemporary assemblages and a picture of the exploitation of animals on these sites attempted. A wide range of objects is represented in the assemblages, primarily tools, with a few ornaments. Working debris and part-finished objects are also identified, allowing some manufacturing processes to be determined in detail. The selection of raw materials shows an adaption to the local conditions (eg in the use of whale bone) and a clear appreciation of the functional value of different materials and bone types. Fresh examination identified some important, previously unrecognized objects, including a whale-bone vertebral disc with ogam-like decorations which had been used as a trial piece for an interlace pattern.
An Early Bronze Age flat cist cemetery was excavated after it was exposed by reservoir erosion. Nine surviving cists were found, containing a mixture of inhumations and cremations. Grave goods included food vessels and a unique cannel coal and lead necklace. Where skeletal remains survived, most of the deceased were sub-adult or young adults. Evidence of floral tributes was found in three burials. A number of other features, one containing Beaker sherds, may be connected to rituals taking place at the site. In addition a number of less coherent sites were excavated elsewhere around the reservoir. Discussion attempts to place the cemetery within its wider Bronze Age context, considering aspects such as the deliberate infilling of burials and the interpretation of grave goods. Includes separately authored reports on:
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