The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 48 • Steven Mithen
provided easy killings for Mesolithic coastal foragers. Our principal understanding comes from
work during the 1970s, especially at Cnoc Coig midden (Mellars 1987).
Radiocarbon dates show that the middens formed between 6,300 and 4,300 calendar years
ago. Aside from mollusc shells, a wide range of remains of marine and terrestrial fauna are
attested; the subsistence economy is examined below. A collection of red deer bones is noteworthy,
as it is unlikely that deer would ever have lived on Oronsay, or even on Colonsay. It seems that
people from Islay and Jura, where occupation was probably based and where deer occur, made
intermittent visits to exploit the rich coastal resources.
Artefacts from the middens include those probably used for exploiting coastal resources, such
as small antler harpoons, and bevel-ended elongated pebbles (‘limpet hammers’), employed,
perhaps, for detaching limpets from rocks. The middens lack a microlithic industry, as represented
at contemporary sites on nearby islands. This absence probably reflects the specific economic
activities undertaken on Oronsay, rather than indicating distinct cultural groups with different
tool traditions.
Gleann Mor, Islay
This site (Figure 3.8) provides an
important contrast to those already
described, which are likely to be
palimpsests from multiple
occupations. Gleann Mor is a small,
discrete scatter consisting solely of
stone artefacts and manufacturing
waste, that probably represents a
single occupation event. Excavated
as part of a regional study (Mithen
et al. in Pollard and Morrison 1996),
Gleann Mor is set inland within peat
moorland, beneath which the
artefacts were sealed. When the site
was occupied 6,200 years ago, hazeldominated
woodland would have
Figure 3.8 Excavations at Gleann Mor, Islay (Steven Mithen)
surrounded the hunter-gatherers.
Apart from thousands of waste
chippings, the artefacts are again dominated by microliths, which, like the other tools, are preserved
in a fresh condition. Microwear study indicates varied uses, outlined below.
Gleann Mor was probably a small hunting camp, occupied for a short period by a group
exploiting the Hebridean islands. Other site types in their settlement system are found nearby.
Less than 2 km distant, a much larger and probably contemporary site at Bolsay Farm may have
been a residential base. The specialized sites of Oronsay, and that at Staosnaig (Colonsay), are
located slightly further away; both have dates that overlap those of Gleann Mor. Thus here
archaeologists are gaining insights into how Mesolithic people undertook different economic
activities at various locations in the landscape.
Culverwell, Isle of Portland, Dorset
The important site at Culverwell consists of an extensive shell midden, stretching over 300 m 2
(Palmer in Bonsall 1989), which seems to have formed in a hollow and derives from the exploitation
of a wide range of marine molluscs; the absence of fish bones is puzzling. Evidence of dwelling