The period from around 2500 BC to about 800 BC saw significant changes to the population, technology and nature of society in south-east Scotland. There were also changes to the environment and settlement patterns as climate change took effect. The beginning of this period is marked by the arrival of Beaker-using people from the Continent, bringing a range of novelties including knowledge of metal. The end of the period is conventionally marked by the beginning of the use of iron. During that time the population rose; new kinds of settlement appeared; new artefact types and a new technology – metalworking – were used; weaponry developed; various kinds of social ranking were in play; and new and changing patterns of contacts with the wider world emerged.
The evidence we have for these developments in south-east Scotland is rich, with a particularly impressive range of bronze artefacts dating to the later part of the period in question.
5.1.1 Chalcolithic (2500 to 2200/2150 BC)
5.1.2 Early Bronze Age (2200/2150 to 1500 BC)