Finding Britain's last hunter-gatherers: A new biomolecular approach to ‘unidentifiable’ bone fragments utilising bone collagen

(Re)creating the world in everyday engagements : a material approach to elements and cosmologies during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition

For over 120 years, the shell middens of western Scotland and the series of open-air sites on Oronsay have been the focus of debate in European Mesolithic studies. This paper challenges the significance of Oronsay in light of results from the geophysical survey and test-excavation of a new limpet and periwinkle shell midden dated to the late 5th or start of the 4th millennium cal BC at Port Lobh, Colonsay that offers fresh evidence to re-evaluate critically the role of Oronsay and coastal resources in island settlement models ahead of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Test excavations recovered a marine molluscan assemblage dominated by limpet and periwinkle shells together with crab, sea urchin, a fishbone assemblage composed mainly of Gadidae, some identifiable bird and mammal bone, carbonised macroplant remains, and pumice as well as a bipolar lithic assemblage and coarse stone implements. Novel seasonality studies of saithe otolith thin-sections suggest wintertime tidal fishing practices. At least two activity events may be discerned, dating from the late 5th millennium cal BC. The midden could represent a small
number of rapidly deposited assemblages or maybe the result of stocastic events within a more extended timeframe. We argue that alternative research questions are needed to advance long-standing debates about seasonal inter island mobility versus island sedentism that look beyond Oronsay to better understand later Mesolithic occupation patterns and the formation and date of Oronsay middens. We propose alternative methodological strategies to aid identification of contemporaneous sites using geophysical techniques and lithic technological signatures.

/pdf/calling-time-on-oronsay-revising-settlement-models-around-7lcebi3mp7.pdf

Calling Time on Oronsay: Revising Settlement Models Around the Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in Western Scotland, New Evidence from Port Lobh, Colonsay

Cnoc Coig : the spatial analysis of a late Mesolithic shell midden in western Scotland.

This paper reviews recent trends and developments in the study of the Mesolithic period in Scotland and places them in their historical context. The last decade has witnessed a flourishing of research activity, not just in terms of discovery and excavation, but also artefact studies, dating programmes, and other types of research. The contribution of development-led projects is challenging traditional interpretations that have relied heavily on the evidence from the maritime west. These and other major issues such as chronology, subsistence strategies and archaeological signatures are reviewed and some future research priorities are suggested.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27917484.pdf

The Mesolithic in Scotland: East meets West

Summary An account of M Buchanan's excavations on the mesolithic and later site on Oronsay in 1911–12 is given, based on mss in the Hunlerian Museum. No distinct occupation areas seem to have been uncovered, and theflint and quartz tools have to be treated as stray finds in the sand dunes. The tools are catalogued and analysed, and appear to include material dating to most periods from mesolithic limes down to the early bronze age.

Excavations at Druim Arstail, Oronsay, 1911–12

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

T G Count

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Excavations at Druim Arstail, Oronsay, 1911–12