- The Neolithic sees the first widespread evidence for objects made of exotic materials circulating far beyond their place of origin. In South West Scotland, one of the most commonly encountered materials is pitchstone, a volcanic glass which occurs in its finest, most easily utilised form on Arran. Pitchstone was occasionally brought to the mainland during the Mesolithic, but the quantities in circulation greatly increased during the earlier Neolithic, and it has now been found on a number of sites. Worked pitchstone was found beneath the Neolithic chambered cairn of Slewcairn, within pit features at Auchenwinn Bridge and Carzield, and as surface finds at Beckton Farm.
- The largest collection of pitchstone objects yet recorded on mainland Scotland comes from Luce Bay, in Dumfries and Galloway (Bradley, Rogers, Stuart and Watson 2016). This site has also produced other finds originating beyond the local area, including objects made from a distinctive form of volcanic tuff from Langdale, in the Cumbrian fells. The recovery of debris from working this material suggests that objects arrived as ‘rough-outs,’ potentially being finished off on-site there. Other exotic materials recovered from Luce Bay include flint from Yorkshire and from Antrim, in the north of Ireland, and also jadeite – a visually impressive mineral which is sourced in northern Italy.
- The concentration of exotic materials at the head of Luce Bay, which formed a natural harbour, has led to the suggestion that Luce Bay may have functioned as a natural maritime haven, a place where communities met on neutral terms. Part of this interaction may have taken the form of trading or gift-giving (Bradley, Rogers, Stuart and Watson 2016). The latter seems more likely, as the Neolithic economy was probably typical of small-scale, pre-industrial societies, with transactions based on the concept of gift-giving. Here, the giving and receiving of gifts would also involve the accumulation or discharging of social debts, between individuals or – potentially – between families or even communities. The peak of this activity appears to have been in the Early Neolithic, although the site was still visited during the Late Neolithic, having revealed 40 transverse arrowheads of Late Neolithic type, as well as sherds of Grooved Ware and Beaker pottery.
- A similar role can be envisaged for the area around Irvine Bay in Ayrshire, which falls within the ‘Irvine Complex’ as denoted by Bradley and others. Although less thoroughly explored than Luce Bay, and now compromised through later land use, the area around Irvine Bay has also revealed a large quantity of artefacts. Again, these included exotic items such as Arran pitchstone and Antrim flint. Like Luce Bay, it would have offered Neolithic sea-goers a sheltered bay with large areas of sand dunes and bars onto which small boats could be pulled up.
- These exotic materials were often used in the making of axes. Jadeite from northern Italy appears to have been used exclusively for the manufacture of polished stone axes. Langdale tuff was also used in this fashion, though it appears to have circulated in far greater quantities. Petrological analysis (see Chapter 2 Archaeological Practice) has revealed that axeheads (labelled ‘Group VI’) originating from the Cumbrian axe factories were brought to the region. They have been found in large numbers along the southern coast of Galloway and the major river systems (Sheridan 1998, 79).
- Finished axeheads usually occur as single finds divorced from their original context, which makes them difficult to interpret. Axes would have been vital tools for clearing woodland or scrub in preparation for cultivation. Their presence is often dismissed as casual loss, but deliberate discard and even, in some cases, destruction cannot be discounted. Some examples of Group VI polished stone axeheads recovered in unusual circumstances include a hoard of three reportedly found at Bogueknowe in Dumfries and Galloway (NHRE: 65381). Isolated fragments derived from these axeheads have been recovered from the fill of a pit at Fox Plantation (MacGregor 1996) and during excavations at Blairhall Burn. The latter example may have been removed from its parent object during reworking or deliberate decommissioning of the object (Sheridan 1998). The comparatively small number of jadeite axeheads occurring appear to have been treated as special objects. One unusual instance of a jadeite axe fragment recovered during archaeological excavations was recorded by Piggott and Powell within the burial chamber at Cairnholy I (Piggott et al 1951).
- We can still trace the movement of exotic materials like jadeite and pitchstone because they are durable and robust and have survived to the present. Work has already begun on interrogating patterns of circulation and exchange to try to extract information that relates to how Neolithic society may have been structured. Ballin’s work on the SAPP has been particularly valuable in this respect, with the patterns evident in the distribution of archaeological pitchstone allowing him to draw particular ethnographic parallels with the ‘Hopewell Interaction Sphere’. This involved a hierarchy of networks, with some goods circulating locally and regionally, while others were moved over particularly long distances in a way that transcended boundaries (Ballin 2009, 62).
- Although focusing outwith South West Scotland, Tom Clare’s exploration of neighbouring Cumbria identifies other potential links. Clare used the presence of various monument forms (such as chambered cairns) and artefact types (such as polished stone axeheads fashioned from Langdale tuff) to support the possibility of exchange networks. These particular links appear to have been at their most effective in the earlier Neolithic. In the Late Neolithic, there is a realignment towards the east: Cumbria’s monuments and material culture forms now show a closer affinity to Yorkshire, an affinity shared with the eastern regions of Dumfries and Galloway (Clare 2009).
- What cannot be seen, in any of these studies, is how other aspects of these exchange networks could have operated. In particular, how organic items such as foodstuffs, whether processed in the form of bread or meat, or unprocessed as grain or livestock, might have been circulated within or amongst communities.
- People, too, may have played a part in these exchange networks, as marriage partners, for example, or even as the sources of labour required to build the large, imposing ritual and funerary monuments which form such a prominent part of the Neolithic known today. The evidence from Luce Bay suggests that certain spaces were set aside as meeting places for large groups of people, and this is also suggested by the large monuments that occur in very small numbers throughout the region. During the Early Neolithic, such monuments included the causewayed enclosures, of which a single possible example has been identified in Dumfries and Galloway at Barscarrow Hill, on The Rhins of Galloway. They also included the timber halls, like those identified at Lockerbie Academy and Laigh Newton, the cursus monuments of Holywood North and South, and – in the Late Neolithic – the palisaded enclosure at Dunragit. These monuments were frequently subject to alteration and rebuilding, as were the funerary monuments like the chambered and long cairns. Building these sites would have required a massive support network to provide sufficient food and shelter for those involved, and it is possible that the resulting interactions, both tangible and intangible, were another element in a complex network of exchange.
- An important new technology which first appeared during the Neolithic was the manufacture and use of ceramics. The use of pottery vessels is likely to reflect the adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle, though the degree to which it was practised is still open to debate (Brophy 2016). During the Mesolithic, groups moved from place to place and appear to have created what they required on an ad hoc basis. In the Neolithic, it has been suggested that the use of pottery marked changes in how food was consumed and presented. The round-bottomed carinated bowls may have been used for sharing food, while flat-bottomed types like Grooved Ware may have been used for storage (Parker Pearson 2003, 12). Pottery manufacture requires a considerable investment of time and labour. Clay must be quarried and prepared, temper such as chopped grass or sand added, before the vessels are built and fired. Firing then takes several days, even in an informal clamp-type kiln.
- Pottery types change throughout the Neolithic. The Early Neolithic is characterised by the round-based carinated bowl, with its flaring rim, and it is usually undecorated, though sometimes smoothed around the exterior. Numerous examples of this type of pottery have been recovered from the region, from sites which include Montgomerie Park, near Irvine, Curragh South, near Girvan and Hilltop, near Twynholm. The latter also provided radiocarbon dates spanning the range 3640 BC to 3500 BC. This form was replaced in the Late Neolithic of South West Scotland by two dominant pottery types: Impressed Ware, and Grooved Ware. Grooved Ware in particular has been recovered from a number of recent developer-funded sites across the region, with a particularly large assemblage excavated at Station Brae, Dreghorn and Doonhill, Arran. Both Impressed Ware and Grooved Ware are flat-based forms which each display their own distinct decorative schemes. Pottery manufacture is likely to have been small-scale and local, with households or family groups responsible for producing their own items. The more widespread use of decorated vessels in the later part of the Neolithic may suggest a move towards a stronger regional or local identity.
- Implements and weapons would have been manufactured from stone, bone or wood. Stone-working techniques – and the types of objects produced – varied over time. The composite objects of the Mesolithic with their distinctive microliths were replaced by a selection of larger blades and scrapers, perhaps reflecting the fact that a more sedentary way of life meant it was easier to acquire and retain larger items. It is also possible that it was easier to acquire good stone for working because of the exchange networks, which encouraged the circulation of high-quality materials from outwith the local area. As the Neolithic progressed, the surface finish of objects such as axes was more finely worked through polishing. Fine working is also evident on items that have a less tangible purpose from our modern perspective, such as the carved stone balls recovered in small numbers from Ayrshire and the central and western regions of Dumfries and Galloway.
- One aspect of Neolithic manufacture and industry which is largely absent is the organic element, items composed of animal bone, horn, wood, leather or textile. That a substantial amount of material culture composed of these materials would have existed is inferred, and indeed confirmed, by finds recovered elsewhere throughout the British Isles and beyond. We are granted only occasional glimpses of the wealth of organic remains that must have been present in the past: Ludovic Mann’s excavations at Mye Plantation, which revealed a surviving timber element in a series of waterlogged pits, are one example (Mann 1903). The importance of woven or spun textiles within the Neolithic family must, for the time being, remain a matter of inference. No objects have as yet been interpreted as spindle whorls, and evidence for sheep remains elusive. The only confirmed evidence of sheep/goat in South West Scotland is the carbonised dung of a probable goat from Auchenwinn Bridge, and the burnt bones of sheep or cattle recovered from the excavations of the ritual complex at Dunragit.