The Middle Stone Age - after the Ice Age - Pre 7000BC
This was when the earliest occupation of Scotland took place. Small
hunter gatherer groups migrated from England and Ireland in search
of food.
The Mesolithic Age - 7000-4000BC
Flints found around the area prove evidence of human activity. Flint
does not occur naturally in this area so it must have been brought
in manually. Around 1940, a local man found a collection of 800 flints
on a gravel bed on the North East shore of Woodend Loch. In this era
people moved around in extended family groups, living in temporary
structures built with local items that quickly disappeared once they
were abandonned. This is the reason there is little archeological
evidence of their homes now. This way of life lasted for almost 3000
years. The groups knew the local resources well and that is why they
settled in this area of Scotland and it was used for hunting right
up to the Middle Ages.
The Neolithic - 4000BC
Farming took root in this period and long houses were built of wood.
Animals were kept that were imported from Europe and the Far East.
Barley and wheat were cultivated. Evidence of chambered cairns are
found from this date, where the communities buried their dead and
the cairns also served to mark their claim to a certain area. Unfortunately,
most of the cairns have been wiped out by agricultural development.
Farmers removed them from fields when ploughing or used the stones
to build dykes.
The Bronze Age - 2000BC
There is evidence of box-kist burials in this period. Urns have been
found in two kists in 19th century excavations with bronze-age weapons
that survive burial well. A bronze spearhead was found in 1898 just
west of Provanhall. Sometimes moulds are found also.
The Iron Age - 700BC
As population numbers increased there was a rise in defended settlements.
The traces of these settlements only survived in upland areas because,
in general, farmers did not plough there and so did not disturb the
evidence.
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