Stone Age Scotland

**neloon** · 13th July 15, 02:02 AM

Recent archaeological excavations in Upper Deeside have shown much earlier human presence in the Highlands than had been supposed. Did their descendants become the Farquharsons?

http://digit2015.com/events/stone-ag...-lodge-estate/

**The Q** · 13th July 15, 04:58 AM

Whoever wrote that up didn't get it right.
It's pushing it a bit to say by 2800BC (10300-7500) they had settled down and become farmers using metal tools, since the recognized Bronze age doesn't start till 2500 BC.
Plus stone tools were still being used when the Romans arrived, just if you were wealthy you had metal tools.
By that period although they were doing farming, they were still very much hunters.
Mountain is spelt wrong..
Other than that interesting....and if I lived up there I'd go for a visit

**neloon** · 13th July 15, 11:06 AM

Maybe you're reading too much into a summarisation of approximate dates and time periods. The research has been in the public domain for some time now and I don't believe it has been seriously criticised. This gives a possibly clearer report
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index....8000-years-ago
The main point is really that people were in the area thousands of years earlier than was previously thought.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/h...00bc.131348365
(I can't find mountain spelled incorrectly.)
Alan

**The Q** · 13th July 15, 12:16 PM

Now those two articles make a lot more sense.
As for mountain, I think I'm wrong, it's just I have never heard the word Montane ( meaning a grass land area ) being used to describe the highlands before and with the description of the climate at the time period of the finds I don't think there will have been much grass land then.

My own historical interest is medieval, as a school boy summer holiday job I worked on Archaeological excavations at a castle in the village I lived in. Although I have a more general interest in all history.
Sadly taking a degree in archaeology ( or any degree) was not an option at the time, But once I have the time I'll probably do another Open university degree but this time in history.

**Mike_Oettle** · 15th July 15, 01:37 PM

Actually montane need not necessarily refer to grassland. In Southern Africa we have numerous (surviving) examples of afromontane forests along the southern coast, and in the higher-lying areas as far north as Zimbabwe (on the border with Moçambique) and Malawi.
There are a few small patches remaining as far west as the Cape Peninsula.