Only a small number of early hunter-gatherer sites have been uncovered in the region in recent times and there is a general lack of non-charcoal macroplant remains, represented by remains of seeds, fruit stones, nutshell etc, recovered from these sites. This absence largely reflects the often sparse and rare early prehistoric archaeobotanical finds recovered across Scotland, where direct evidence for specific plant utilisation is often scarce and, in some areas, non-existent. Uncovered early prehistoric deposits tend to be the remnants of shell middens or scatters of flint tools/remains of tool making, rarely with associated structures/deposits where macroplant remains are likely to survive. Whilst over the years there has also been a general lack of systematic sampling from early prehistoric sites, with small sample sizes being the norm on the occasion that samples have been taken and processed (Bishop et al 2014).
By far the most common recovered macroplant remains from early Scottish prehistoric sites are fragments of charred hazelnuts and their shells, examples of particularly large assemblages of hazelnut shells having been recovered from neighbouring regions. These include Morton, Fife (Dickson and Dickson 2000), Cramond, Edinburgh (Hastie 2013) and Slackbuie, Inverness (Hastie 2003). Although no such large Mesolithic nutshell assemblages have been uncovered so far in Perth and Kinross, a small assemblage of nutshell dated to the Mesolithic has recently been recorded at Blackford (O’Connell and Anderson 2021).
Although there has been a general lack of early prehistoric sites recorded in Perth and Kinross, investigations by the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape project and more recently by the Early Settlers Project (Tay Landscape Partnership Scheme) have uncovered several early prehistoric sites in the region. Elsewhere Mesolithic dwellings have been found around the Forth estuary, at Castlehill, Rosyth and Echline, South Queensferry (Robertson et al 2013), while recent research has uncovered evidence for Mesolithic upland occupation in the Cairngorms (Wickham-Jones et al 2020). With the increasing evidence for Mesolithic activity being uncovered within Perth and Kinross opportunities are likely to arise for greater sampling and recovery of macroplant remains from in situ contexts in the future.
Research Priorities
Sampling of any charred or waterlogged material from in situ early prehistoric contexts associated with human activity should be a priority, with samples targeting deposits which offer the potential for the preservation of Mesolithic archaebotanical/macroplant remains.
Where plant remains are generally scarce or only found in low densities (ie from early prehistoric sites, esp. Mesolithic and Neolithic deposits) there is a need for larger samples to be taken, where deposits allow. Overall, samples need to produce sufficient qualities of macroplant remains to allow detailed analysis and comparable macroplant data to investigate changes over time, and differences between areas, site types and situations within the varied landscape of Perth and Kinross.