prev home next print SCOTLAND’S FIRST SETTLERS SECTION 5 5 Lithic Raw Material use around the Inner Sound | Caroline Wickham-Jones The archive version of the text can be obtained from the project archive on the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) website, after agreeing to their terms and conditions: ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?sfs_ba_2007 > Downloads > Documents > Final Reports. From here you can download the file ‘Wickham- Jones,_Lithic_Raw_Materials_Around_the_Inner_Sound.pdf’. 5.1 Introduction Scotland’s First Settlers has identified several different raw materials that were used for flaked stone tools in prehistory in the area (see Illustration 365, right; Tables 176 & 177, both below). At first it was hoped to enlist the help of specialised geologists to recognise these definitively and provide more information on their occurrence and archaeological development. In the event, this was not possible, partly because of a lack of funding and partly because the archaeological queries are, in geological terms, very specialised so that it was difficult to find points of agreement between the geologists consulted. SFS consulted some half a dozen geologists and found that they offered differing views, for example as to the differentiation of flint or chert from other chalcedonic silicas, or the recognition of baked mudstone as apart from baked volcanic tuffs. (From top left: Rùm bloodstone×2, baked mudstone×2, quartz×3, with Illus 365: The main raw chalcedonic silica×2 in the centre). Skip Tables. materials used at Sand Table 176 Chalcedonic Silica: including flint, chert, agate and jasper Baked Mudstone Rùm Bloodstone Quartz, Quartzite and Rock crystal Coarse stone: including a variety of sandstones Table 176: Different types of raw material identified by the project Table 177 Site Name Baked Chalcedonic Rùm Quartz Coarse Flint Other Total Location* Mudstone Silicas Bloodstone and stone Quartzite SFS 185 1 2 3 SLS Achintee SFS 95 13 4W Achnahannait Bay SFS 68 Allt 12 47 59 E na Criche SFS 10 Allt 1 6 1 1 9 SLS na h’Uamha SFS 60 Allt- 1 1E na-h-Eirigh SFS 150 Alt 2 2 4 SLS Cadh an Eas SFS 29 An 34 41 1 76 W Corran B SFS 30 An 299 217 12 1v 529 W Corran C SFS 31 An 10 45 1 2 58 W Corran D SFS 101 An 249 284 5 17 555 W Corran E SFS 193 An 818 26 W Corran F SFS 194 An 3 3W Corran G SFS 1 An 1 1W Corran, Meso site SFS 116 7 3 10 E Applecross Mains Shovel Pits SFS 75 28 17 52 97 E Applecross Manse SFS 66 Ard 52512E Clais Salacher 2 SFS 102 11E Ardheslaig 1 SFS 6 Ashaig 213S 1 SFS 92 611 8S Ashaig 3 SFS 93 21 3S Ashaig 4 SFS 32 52 47 3 102 W Brogaig SFS 168 1 1 SLS Camas an Leim SFS 188 4 4 SLS Camas an Leim SFS 71 11E Camusteel 1 SFS 77 5 5E Camusteel 2 SFS 17 22 4C Church Cave SFS 61 213E Clachan Church SFS 99 1 1E Clachan Church Midden SFS 147 9 27 1v 37 SLS Cnoc na Celpeirein SFS 89 Coire 13 3 7E Sgamadail 1 SFS 90 Coire 8 8E Sgamadail 3–6 SFS 49 2 2E Creag na-h- uamha SFS 2 125 4 1 31C Crowlin 1 SFS 22 53 5 2 60 C Crowlin 3 SFS 23 C Crowlin 4 SFS 26 4 4C Crowlin 7 SFS 188/190 1 1 SLS Diabeg SFS 152 3 76 1 80 C Doire na Guaile, Rona SFS 117 Dun 12 3W Hasan 2 SFS 104 115 131 40 468 754 E Fearnmore 1 SFS 80 11E Fearnmore 2 SFS 114 68 12 1 81 E Fergus’ Shelter SFS 8 Loch a 60 27 62 149 C Sguirr SFS 18 Loch 55C a Sguirr 2 SFS 171 23 4 27 SLS Meall na h’Airde 2 SFS 96 220 11 24E Meallabhan SFS 183 3 5 3 11 SLS Nead an Eoin SFS 50 914 14C Pabay 1 SFS 94 Port 15 6W Earlish SFS 9 30 (197) 32 (35) 34 (37) 751 847 SLS Redpoint (1087) (1356) SFS 57 616 13E Rubha a Ghair SFS 58 112E Rubha Chuaig SFS 44 12 3W Rubha’an Droma Bhain, Scalpay SFS 71 Sand 1 1E 5 SFS 12 16 11 29 56 Scalpay Scalpay 2 SFS 33 59 10 82 1v 152 Scalpay Scalpay 3 SFS 56 5 1 20 26 Scalpay Scalpay 4 SFS 118 36 18 148 202 Scalpay Scalpay 5 SFS 198 3 314 16 323 1 2v 659 Scalpay Scalpay 6a SFS 195 55 3 1520 1578 Scalpay Scalpay 6b SFS 196 6 2 22 30 Scalpay Scalpay 7 SFS 197 1 1 2 Scalpay Scalpay 8 SFS 15 1 14 (663) 1 (68) 29 (5270) 45 SLS Sheildaig (6001) SFS 141 R 2 2C 1/25 SFS 36 16 7W Staffin Island SFS 191 7 7W Suarbie Burn SFS 162 1 1 11 13 SLS Teanga Fhiadhaich SFS 186 2 1 3 SLS Torridon Mains SFS 20 31 4E Toscaig 2 SFS 34 41 5E Toscaig 3 SFS 39 22 4E Toscaig 7 SFS 41 7 7E Toscaig 9 SFS 105 12 7 10E Uags SFS 61 11W Uamh an Traill Table 177: SFS survey sites: lithic raw materials used, other – (u = unknown, v = volcanic glass); Back to Section 5.8; Key * = location in the Inner Sound: E = eastern coast; W = western coast; C = central islands; S = southern coasts; SLS = Lochs Carron and Torridon 5.2 Method As a part of the project major sources of raw materials were visited and the surveyors collected and recorded any nodule material that they found (see Appendix 13). In addition, walks were made across some of the beaches in the study area in order to look for nodules of suitable materials, but little was found (see below). It soon became clear that detailed work on the lithic raw materials would involve the individual classification of every archaeological piece by a specialist and thus be lengthy and expensive, even once an appropriate specialist had been found. In the event, basic differentiation was done by eye by the author, and the discussion is written on this basis. This obviously leaves scope for more precise geological work to be done in the future. The analysis of the use of lithic raw materials around the Inner Sound has much to offer the wider picture of prehistoric activity in the area and it would be good to see it developed. The problems facing the basic differentiation of the lithic raw materials in use around the Inner Sound are compounded by the ways in which different raw materials react while buried. Work undertaken as part of the Rùm project (Finlayson & Durant 1990) showed that both Rùm bloodstone and local flints were subject to surface alteration while buried so that they often (but not always) ended up a uniform grey colour that made it impossible to distinguish between the two. We do not know whether this alteration extends to other chalcedonic silicas, or the baked mudstones, but it means that accurate identification of the different raw materials is impossible without further analysis of processes such as surface alteration. Furthermore, Finlayson’s work for the Rùm project highlighted the considerable changes that come about as a result of burning (whether accidental or deliberate) so that this, too, must be taken into account (Finlayson 1990b). The following discussion should, thus, be read with the caveat that the picture may change when more detailed work can be done. It does, however, provide a list of the different types of raw material exploited, a rough idea of their varying quantities across the Inner Sound, and an initial interpretation of lithic raw material use in archaeological terms. For that reason it has been included in the overall report. Throughout this section a distinction is made between primary sources, that is locations where a lithic raw material is found in situ in the rock, and secondary sources, or locations where nodules of a particular raw material have eroded out of their parent rock and are to be found as a component of beach or river gravels, loose on the ground surface, or in deposits of glacial till. 5.3 Chalcedonic Silica: including Flint, Chert, Agate and Jasper Flint is one of the most commonly used materials for stone tools in prehistoric Britain, but as elsewhere in Scotland (Wickham-Jones 1986) it did not dominate the lithic assemblages of the Inner Sound. The main reason for that lies in its relative scarcity. Flint is a non-clastic siliceous sedimentary rock, part of a group known overall as chert (Hallsworth & Knox 1999:22), of which other forms are chert itself, agate and jasper, all of which have been identified among the archaeological assemblages of the Inner Sound. All of these stones occur naturally, in different amounts, around the Inner Sound. They can be difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, and are classified collectively as chalcedonic silica in this report. There is one exception to this, and that concerns the sites with more recent activity where gunflints were found: gunflints tend to be of grey, often imported, flint, and they have been classified as flint. Flint and chert pebbles occur both in sedimentary rocks, such as the Durness Limestones (Robertson ed 1994), and in gravel and till deposits, whether of glacial, marine, or riverine origin. As such they are to be found both in beach and river gravels around the Inner Sound, and in till deposits, for example along the Suarbie Burn in Staffin (see Illustration 270, right).