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Scotsman
09-07-2025
- General
- Scotsman
The festivals of the New Stone Age - how we partied in Scotland in 4,000BC
Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A major archaeological discovery has offered new insight into how our ancestors came together for large-scale festivities in Scotland more than 6,000 years ago. Two giant timber halls built during the Neolithic period in Scotland, the likes of which have never been seen before in Scotland, have unlocked new understanding about the ways people from around the country gathered to celebrate key moments in the seasons around 4,000 BC. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The structures - the largest some 35m long and 9m wide - were built in cleared woodland near Carnoustie in Scotland by some of Scotland's earliest farmers. It is known immigrant farmers arrived in Scotland from the near Continent around the same time the hall was built, with a social and economic revolution unfolding as the Mesolithic way of life gave way to a new order. The timber hall at Carnoustie became known long before the Neolithic wonders of both Skara Brae and Ring of Brodgar in Orkney. Around the Neolithic site, excavations by GUARD Archaeology found evidence of the deliberate deposition of stone artefacts and 'tantalising traces of the beliefs and rituals' of the community that built the hall, which possibly served as a focal point for travellers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad An artist's impression of the large Neolithic hall at Carnoustie. PIC: GUARD Archaeology. | GUARD Meanwhile, acorns and cereal deposits were found in the large hearth of the smaller hall, indicating feasting and meeting. Later evidence emerged of people camping outside the structures. People continued to leave important items at the site well into the Bronze Age, with the 'Carnoustie Hoard' of a sword, a spearhead with gold decoration and a long pin wrapped in sheepskin earlier hailed for its importance. Dr Beverley Ballin Smith, of GUARD Archaeology, said: 'The Carnoustie halls, elevated and prominent in the landscape, were probably close to routeways where people may have congregated naturally at various seasons of the year. 'The availability of hazel nuts in autumn is a strong indicator that that season was an important one for meeting, feasting and celebrating. The Carnoustie timber halls may have been a focal point, their significance great enough to attract people from a much wider area. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We know from the materials found in the Carnoustie buildings that some artefacts came from distant places and represent deliberate deposition, such as fragments of Arran pitchstone, an axe of garnet-albite-schist and a piece of smoky quartz from the Highlands, while other materials were found more locally such as agate, quartz and chalcedony.' The Neolithic hall at Carnoustie dates to around 4,000BC, long before the Ring of Brodgar (pictured), one of the wonders of the period, was built in Orkney around 2,600BC. PIC: Getty. | AFP via Getty Images Alan Hunter Blair, who directed the fieldwork, said the Carnoustie excavation had produced 'exceptional results', including the discovery of the largest early Neolithic timber hall ever discovered in Scotland. Described as 'architecturally sophisticated', the permanent structure, built from oak, measured 35m long and 9m wide. Its large roof was supported by paired massive timber posts and the walls constructed from wattle and daub panels supported by posts that were partly protected by its over-hanging roof. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The internal space was subdivided by more postholes and narrow channels marking partitions. Dr Ballin Smith said: 'This monumental timber hall, completely alien to the culture and landscape of the preceding Mesolithic era, was erected by one of the very first groups of farmers to colonise Scotland, in a clearing within the remains of natural woodland. 'It was fully formed, architecturally sophisticated, large, complex and required skills of design, planning, execution and carpentry.' The discovery of a smaller companion hall made the site 'exceptional' given that other Neolithic halls discovered in Scotland were all 'discrete solitary structures within the virgin farmland' of the time. The smaller structure was still substantial, and measured almost 20m long and more than 8m wide. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad After about 200 years, the halls were dismantled. A smaller hall was then built within the footprint of the larger hall around 3,800-3,700 BC, but this too continued to receive deliberate deposits of stone tools until about 3,600 BC. Polished Neolithic stone axes from Carnoustie. PIC: GUARD Archaeology Ltd. | GUARD The site continued to be revisited with evidence of people camping and gathering outside where the buildings once stood, carrying on the seasonal round of activities until around 2,500 BC. From around 1,400 BC, during the Bronze Age, people had returned to this same site at Carnoustie, probably oblivious to its significance to earlier Neolithic communities. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A settlement was established here, comprising a single roundhouse, much smaller than the previous Neolithic halls. The Carnoustie Hoard was buried here during the late Bronze Age and included a sword within its wooden scabbard, a spearhead with a gold decorative band around its socket and a bronze sunflower-headed swan's neck pin. All were found wrapped in the remains of woollen cloth and sheep-skin. The hoard had been deliberately buried in a pit within the midst of a late Bronze Age settlement sometime between 1,118-924 BC. The best preserved of these Bronze Age roundhouses was positioned over part of the foundations of the large Neolithic timber hall. Dr Ballin Smith said the rich hoard of metal work suggested the occupants of the 'otherwise very modest and unassuming' settlement were wealthy and had some status in the wider community. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said: 'Hoards such as this are rare, but a similar hoard of bronze swords and another gold decorated spearhead found in the 1960s just north of Dundee indicates a shared cultural practice amongst late Bronze Age households for burying wealth such as this for safekeeping. The reason as to why they never came back to recover these prized belongings, however, has been lost to the passage of time.' Archaeologists at the Carnoustie site of the Neolithic timber hall. PIC: GUARD. | GUARD
The National
07-07-2025
- General
- The National
7000-year-old neolithic festival site found at future football pitches
Experts from GUARD Archaeologists discovered the remains of the early Neolithic settlement — which they believed was a focal point for where Scotland's first farming communities gathered for large festivities — during archaeological excavations at the construction site of Carnoustie High School's new pitches. "The Carnoustie excavation produced exceptional results, the traces of the largest early Neolithic timber hall ever discovered in Scotland dating from near 4000 BC," said Alan Hunter Blair, who directed the fieldwork. "This was a permanent structure 35 meters long and 9 meters wide, built of oak with opposed doorways near one end of the building. Its large roof was supported by paired massive timber posts. Its walls were wattle and daub panels supported by posts that were partly protected by its over-hanging roof. And its internal space was sub-divided by more postholes and narrow channels marking partitions." READ MORE: 239-year-old island inn with beer garden hits the market One of the co-authors of a newly published report on the discovery, Beverley Ballin Smith,, added: "This monumental timber hall, completely alien to the culture and landscape of the preceding Mesolithic era, was erected by one of the very first groups of farmers to colonise Scotland, in a clearing within the remains of natural woodland. "It was fully formed, architecturally sophisticated, large, complex and required skills of design, planning, execution and carpentry." What makes Carnoustie unlike other Neolithic halls in Scotland, which were all discrete solitary structures within the virgin farmland of early neolithic Scotland, a smaller companion timber hall existed alongside it. This was still a substantial structure almost 20m long and more than 8m wide. The excavation of the smaller hall revealed a large hearth with charred cereal grains and hazel nutshells consistent with a domestic function. The larger hall yielded evidence for the deliberate deposition of stone artefacts, which arachnologists consider are traces of the beliefs and rituals of the community that built and used it. "The Carnoustie halls, elevated and prominent in the landscape, were probably close to routeways where people may have congregated naturally at various seasons of the year," said Ballin Smith. "The availability of hazel nuts in autumn is a strong indicator that that season was an important one for meeting, feasting and celebrating. The Carnoustie timber halls may have been a focal point, their significance great enough to attract people from a much wider area. "We know from the materials found in the Carnoustie buildings that some artefacts came from distant places and represent deliberate deposition, such as fragments of Arran pitchstone, an axe of garnet-albite-schist and a piece of smoky quartz from the Highlands, while other materials were found more locally such as agate, quartz and chalcedony." READ MORE: Work to begin on £8 million Gaelic cultural centre on Scottish island After about 200 years, the halls were dismantled and a smaller hall built within the footprint of the larger hall around 3800-3700 BC, but this too continued to receive deliberate deposits of stone tools until about 3600 BC. The site continued to be revisited with evidence of people camping and gathering outside where the buildings once stood, carrying on the seasonal round of activities until around 2500 BC. "When Angus Council approved the development of two outdoor football pitches on land at Balmachie Road in Carnoustie, no one imagined the process would reveal one of the most remarkable and internationally significant archaeological discoveries in Scotland," said Kathryn Lindsay, chief executive of Angus Council. "'Many current residents in the area may not have imagined life during this period of history, right on their doorstep! The building of two football pitches at this site has provided an inadvertent but invaluable opportunity to learn more about how people in Angus lived in the Neolithic and Bronze Age." A rare and well-preserved metalwork hoard of a sword within its wooden scabbard, a spearhead with a gold decorative band around its socket and a bronze sunflower-headed swan's neck pin were also found wrapped in the remains of woollen cloth and sheep-skin. Hunter Blair explained: "This small hoard had been deliberately buried in a pit within the midst of a late Bronze Age settlement sometime between 1118 - 924 BC." At around 1400 BC, during the Bronze Age, people had returned to this same site at Carnoustie. A settlement was established, comprising a single roundhouse, much smaller than the previous Neolithic halls, and replaced three or more times over the following centuries until around 800 BC. The best preserved of these Bronze Age roundhouses was positioned over part of the foundations of the large Neolithic timber hall. Like the other buildings it had an entrance facing south-east and during the course of its life it was used as a domestic dwelling, a workshop and also a byre. Near this building, the hoard of precious weapons and jewellery was buried. Co-author of the report Warren Bailie said: "If any object was a direct import, it would be the sunflower pin. The sword was a viable weapon that from the pattern of notches and rebound marks along its blades had probably seen some use in combat, but there was weakness in the core of the spearhead that would have made it vulnerable in use." The team discovered that the last occupant of the Carnoustie site was a small field mouse. Investigation of the contents of the spearhead's socket revealed a considerable amount of fresh-looking grass stems stained by the copper, suggesting that a small rodent (such as a field mouse) had set up house during the fairly recent past in the socket itself. The archaeological work was funded by Angus Council and was required as a condition of planning consent by Angus Council who are advised on archaeological matters by the Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service.
