As previously discussed, the evidence of settlement through the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic is inferred through lithic evidence. Four potential dwellings are shown by Ballin et al at Howburn Farm (41356) through flint concentrations with the presence of burnt lithics. Two flint concentrations were located in Trench 1 which one is strongly argued as a dwelling belonging to the Late Hamburgian period of the Late Upper Palaeolithic due to the similarities with Danish examples at Jels and Slotseng (Ballin 2018, 63). The frequently occurring burnt lithics is argued to be indicative of a hearth, while other stone tool concentrations are likely due to production or storage in these areas. The other concentration of artefacts is less densely distributed but it is remarked by the author that this is likely due to high traffic in later periods disturbing the remains and reusing the flint (Ballin 2018, 63). Trench 2 did not clearly indicate dwellings but did report likely open-air working sites are also discussed as areas of high lithic concentration with large amounts of waste material, referred to as a ‘toss zone’, indicating the first stage of lithic production was done in this area, while refining and was done inside the dwelling (2018, 65). Artefact analysis of Trench 2 indicates that there were several visits to the site through the Late Upper Palaeolithic during the Hamburgian and later Federmesser-Gruppen periods but also through the Mesolithic and Neolithic (Ballin 2018, 85).
Another new site found since the production of Finlay’s 2015 essay is Camps Valley some 23km southwest of Howburn Farm. Three pits were radiocarbon dated to the Mesolithic were located during the construction of Clyde windfarm. The pits were present on either side of Camps Valley sitting between 300-425mOD and filled with stones and charcoal were interpreted as single use hearths although with no sign of in situ burning (Cox and Marshall 2023, 29). While most of the sites within Daer Valley are low lying, Coom Rig sits upland at 300mOD looking down upon the lower lying floodplain sites. Mesolithic activity at Camps Valley did not find a similar pattern as no evidence of Mesolithic activity was in the lower area of Camps Valley.
Two other sites of Mesolithic date have been recovered in South Lanarkshire through commercial archaeology works. An excavation at Nairn Street, Larkhall, recovered a radiocarbon date from a pit (5551) of 8203 – 7793 BC, which was interpreted as a likely Mesolithic dwelling with similar shape to other examples however, no other dateable artefacts like hazelnut shells or lithics were recovered (Mooney 2023, 10). Similarly, a lithic scatter was recorded at Hyndford Quarry, Lanark and attributed to the Mesolithic (O’Connell 2023, Cook, personal communication, 07/01/2026).