Firewood, food and human niche construction: the potential role of Mesolithic hunter–gatherers in actively structuring Scotland's woodlands

Over the past few decades, the potential importance of plants within European Mesolithic economies has frequently been discussed, but there has been little systematic consideration of the archaeobotanical evidence for Mesolithic plant consumption in Scotland. This paper assesses the use of plants in the Scottish Mesolithic economy using the archaeobotanical evidence from 48 sites. It is argued that plants were systematically, and, in some cases, intensively, exploited in Mesolithic Scotland. Though plan remains were extremely sparse at most sites, it is suggested that uneven archaeological sampling and taphonomic factors, together with the relatively short duration of occupation of many sites, may be responsible for the restricted range and frequency of edible tax in most assemblages.

/pdf/seeds-fruits-and-nuts-in-the-scottish-mesolithic-1thsn07oag.pdf

Seeds, fruits and nuts in the Scottish Mesolithic.

The breakdown of the traditional rigid distinction between ‘hunter-gatherers’ and ‘farmers’ has lead to increased interest into the different types of human-plant relationships that existed in hunter-gatherer and early farming societies during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. This thesis assesses the scale and nature of human-plant exploitation in Mesolithic and Neolithic Scotland. Following Zvelebil (1994), several plant exploitation models are tested using palaeobotanical evidence: 1) opportunistic and incidental wild plant use; 2) systematic and intensive wild plant use; 3) wild plant food management, husbandry or cultivation; 4) the cultivation of domestic plants. It is concluded that wild plant exploitation was most probably systematic and intensive in Mesolithic Scotland, but there is no clear-cut evidence to substantiate the suggestion that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers managed wild plants. The relative importance of wild and domestic plants in the Neolithic economy is difficult to establish due to differences in the deposition, preservation, recovery and recording of cereals and wild plants. However, the importance of agriculture in the economy appears to have varied considerably between different sites and areas. In the Northern Isles and Outer Hebrides, settled agricultural communities were present and wild plant collection was insignificant. In contrast, a mixed plant subsistence economy based on both wild plant collection and cereal cultivation was probably the predominant subsistence strategy in mainland Scotland, though it appears that some apparently contemporary groups cultivated cereals on a large-scale, and others primarily focused on the collection of wild plants. The absence of cereals in assemblages from the Inner Hebrides and the West coast mainland suggests a greater degree of continuity in Mesolithic and Neolithic subsistence strategies in this area than elsewhere in Scotland. Differences in the importance of arable agriculture in each region may reflect the density of settlement in the Mesolithic and the natural availability of wild resources in the environment.

Plant gatherers, plant managers or agriculturalists? : the importance of wild and domestic plants in Mesolithic and Neolithic Scotland

Time and a Place: A luni-solar 'time-reckoner' from 8th millennium BC Scotland

Scotland’s First Settlers comprised a survey project to locate and examine sites relating to the earliest, Mesolithic, settlement of the Inner Sound, along the coastlands between Skye and the west coast of Scotland. Particular foci of interest included the existence and nature of midden sites, the use of rockshelters and caves, and the different types of lithic raw material in use. In addition, information relating to the human use of the area up to the present day was recorded. Fieldwork took place over five years between 1999 and 2004: the entire coastline of the Inner Sound together with its islands was walked; 129 new archaeological sites were recorded; 36 sites were shovel pitted; 44 test pitted; and one major excavation took place. Excavation at Sand has been particularly exciting as it has resulted in the analysis of a shell midden dating to the early-mid seventh millennium BC, the early Mesolithic of Scotland. This report comprises the results of survey and excavation work as well as detailed artefact reports, full information on ecofacts such as shell, and bone, and information on the development of the landscape and environment, including sea level change. Finally, the broad-scale coverage of the project has led to a number of discussion points that have much to offer further work, both within the area and further afield.

Mesolithic and later sites around the Inner Sound, Scotland: the work of the Scotland’s First Settlers project 1998–2004. Section 2.2 Active Sites Report - Metal and glass; Section 3.9 Sand - Metal, slag and glass from sand

Summary The excavation of the archaeological site at Nethermills Farm yielded Mesolithic material, including large quantities of carbonised wood and nut fragments, discussed in this paper. Their analysis indicates a pronounced domination of Quercus (oak). This probably means that wood was collected from local woodland in which oak was dominant. A similar pattern – in which wood use reflects local availability – has been seen at other Mesolithic sites and suggests that no resource management was practised at that time.

https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/gas.1991.17.17.11

The Use of Wood as a Natural Resource at a Scottish Mesolithic Site

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The Use of Wood as a Natural Resource at a Scottish Mesolithic Site