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THE NEOLITHIC and EARLY BRONZE AGE POTTERY from LUCE SANDS, WIGTOWNSHIRE by ISLA J

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THE NEOLITHIC and EARLY BRONZE AGE POTTERY from LUCE SANDS, WIGTOWNSHIRE by ISLA J THE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE POTTERY FROM LUCE SANDS, WIGTOWNSHIRE by ISLA J. McINNES, F.S.A.SCOT. INTRODUCTION: THE LUCE SANDS SITES LUC north-wese Eth SANDn o e Sli t shor Wigtownshiren i f Luc eo y eBa e duneTh . s cover an area of some four square miles with a shore line of over five miles; they rise gradually inland fro flae mth t shor placesreacn o ei t . ft hheigh a 0 . 5 Betweef o t n areas of mobile dunes are lower lying fixed dunes interspersed with marshy areas; on the landward side of the dunes is an extensive area of bog and moorland reaching to the Glenluce-to-Sandhead road. The stable and mobile dune pattern is not con- stant; stable dunes become riddled with rabbi openee t ar hole d agaip du d san nan exposed to the winds. Elsewhere the strong prevailing winds may remove the dunes leaving long wind-swept valleys with withered roots exposed on the floor, showing existence th vegetatiof eo n befor earliee eth r advanc dunese th f eo . Area waterf so - worn shingle blown clean of sand appear in places, evidence of old shore lines now remote from mucd an , h higher thanhers i seae t eI th , . thafinde on t s scatterf so Mesolithic flints. Wher sane e th mobile s di erodinn a base a n th f ,o e o t ga facd ean dune, old land surfaces appear as dark bands in the sand. As many as four old land surfaces are to be seen, at least two of which have been occupied in prehistoric times. With the break-up of the dune, the sand and soil in the old land surface is blown soliy an awad d objectyan s fall out. This process continue possibly ma thao e s y ton find objects from one old level lying upon those of another level with no intervening sterile layer. obvious i t I s that suc unstabln ha e site presents considerable probleme th o t s archaeologist mobilite sane Th . th df yo give s little hop stratificatiof eo acis it dd an n nature means that no organic materials are likely to survive. Even the pottery is affected. Whilsectio e old-land-surface th th n ef i n o e laye pottere th r unaffectes yi d but once it is exposed to the moving sand it is quickly eroded. Freshly exposed Beaker sherd Juny samb e 195 y esd th seee1ha Ma yean i r been reduce minuto dt e fragments merely recognisable as pottery. It would take no more than a few days with a wind moving the sand to remove a burnish from a potsherd; similarly, im- pressions are quickly blurred. Added to all this the excavator has the problem of havin removo gt e literally ton sterilf so e san orden di exposo t squarr w fe ea e feef o t undisturbee th land dol d surfac detailer efo d excavation. In 1951 a party from Edinburgh University under the direction of Professor Atkinson investigate dnumbea centrae sitef th r o n si dunes.le areth f ao 1 Although a large area was investigated, two sites are of particular interest. Burnt Dune (N.G.R. NX 126535): the old land surface at this site, lying under 8 ft. of sterile sand, had been exposed at one point before excavation and pottery had already begun to fall indebtem a 1I Professoo dt r Atkinso informatior nfo n concernin excavatione th g . 40 EARLY POTTERY FROM LUCE SANDS, WIGTOWNSHIRE 4! out. Excavation produced a number of pits dug down from the occupation layer into the sterile sand beneath. These pits, which were shallow and about 2 ft. across, were full of clay of good quality, cleaned and in a soft, pliable condition. In the occupation layer were quantities of potsherds, daub, charcoal and numerous flints. The presence of charcoal and flints, both worked and unworked, certainly points to occupation and the suggestion is made that this was a pot-making station, the broken potsherds being 'wasters'. The daub may represent part of a kiln or other structure. The pottery was of three types; plain undecorated fine ware with rounded or bevelled rims (Nos. 56-69), small hemispherical bowls of similar ware but decorated witm belori h e linewth twistef so d coarse cor coarsea d 71) d d (Nosan an , 0 r 7 .war e decorated with cordons and grooving (Nos. 107 and 109). It was noticeable that there was no Beaker pottery in the occupation layer although Beaker sherds were present amongs pottere th t y exposed before excavation Dunen Pi (N.G.R.A X N . 129536): beneath about 5 ft. of sterile sand were three fairly close dark layers, the topmost about 6 in. wide, the lower two slightly less wide. It would not be accurate to call each dark layer an old land surface; rather, they represent three periods of occupation, with an intervening period of abandonment. This latter period may t havno e been ver loweo ytw longre layerTh . s contained similar type potteryf so ; a finely backed undecorated ware with everted rims (Nos. 40 and 41) and a rather similar ware, decorated with twisted cord impression undecoratedr so shape th n ei , of small bowls with simple rims (Nos topmose . th 81)d 72-74 n I an . 6 t 7 ,laye r these two type potterf so y were absent; instead fairla ther s yewa fine ware with grooved decoratio r applieo n d slashed horizontal ribs (Noe sher on .f thic o d97)d kan , coarsely backed ware. More important, however, were three sherds decorated with false relief and undoubtedly Food Vessel. Two further sites examined in 1951 should also be mentioned. Pin Dune B (N.G.R. NX 130537): this site lay at the bottom of a sand blow. On the surface lay a heap of iron slag amongst which were found two bronze pins (not prehistoric). Further examination revealed pits containing slag dug into the sand. The presence of iron slag suggests that irobeins nwa g workesands,e sups th thid n an wa s- do porteexcavatioe th y db Charcoala f no t (N.G.RPi 125532)X N . This provee b o dt 1 a rectangular pit 4 ft. by 2 ft., of unknown depth but over a foot deep and filled with charcoal. Also in various spots on the dunes one comes across exposed 'hearths'. Thes circulae ear r areas abou yara t diameten d i purf o ed charcoalan r e th t bu , 2 absence of surrounding stones suggests that these may not be domestic hearths. It seems more likely that these represent charcoal 'hoards' prepare iron-workingr dfo . This iron-working s presumabli 3 y associated wit finde hth f gree o sorangd nan e glazed medieval pottery sandse madth n e,o and, although this iron-workint no s gi prehistoric, it is of importance when considering the nature of Luce Sands as a settlement. 1 Davidson, P.S.A.S., LXXXVI (1951-2) . 56 , 2 Davidson, loc. cit.. 56 , 3 Iron ore does not occur locally in workable form. The attraction of the area must have been the pres- enc woodf eo . Large quantitie charcoaf so l woul requiree db smeltingr dfo , probabl ordee th ovef f yro o r three times the weight of charcoal to iron produced. The ore would be taken to the fuel supply, the lesser weight to the greater, as is still the practice with alumina. 42 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1963-64 oncs wa e y woodedba uplande e e e nortareth peae th th f th Th , f o a tho o t s has yielded large timbers of oak and ash,1 and today, a few scrub oaks still remain amon dunee gth s themselves t seemI . s likely, therefore, tha dunee th t s were until medieval times perhapd an , s later, much more restricte extentn di , merely fringing the beach, and that it was not until the trees were cut down to provide fuel for iron- smelting that the dunes were able to encroach and cover the large area they do today. DESCRIPTION OF THE POTTERY Class I pottere Th y include thin di s class belong wide th eo s t famil Westerf yo n Neolithic ware dennes sa Piggotty db . Ther three ear e main types; Fine Ware, Coarse Ware Smald an l Bowls; sherdther w alse fe decoratee f ar o sa o d pottery. Fine Ware (Nos. 1-32, 54, 55). The pottery in this group is of good quality, being well-fired with a varying quantity of fine grit and/or quartz backing. Mica is some- times added to the backing and where it preponderates the fabric tends to be rather softer. The colour range is very wide, from black and blue-grey through brown to red and orange. Pot forms include simple bowls with narrow or open mouth, shouldered bowl carinated san d vessels sherdm Ri outnumber . sfa r restorable vessels and, although simple rim occuro sd commonee th , r rim eithee sar r rolle pincher do d out. Decoratio vers ni flutind yan limitedn 5 go 5 . No , f fino e m groovinri e th n go the rim and shoulder of Nos. 8, 29, 54. Coarse Ware (Nos. 34-53). The pottery in this group is again of good quality but backine th g heavietende b wale o coarsed st th an rl d thicknesan r greaters si e Th .
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