Saturday, 25 January 2014

Luffness: Chapter 2

The Early Remains: A time of myth and legend


Out of the dark places; out of the howling mists;out of the lands without sun a traveller came. Strong and upright he strode the earth with the knowledge imparted to him by the young sun. Perhaps one of the last of the line of the Gaernedd Uchaf he rested at the foot of Dunpendyrlaw for seven moons. In this time constellations could be seen to form in the darkness of his long black beard and runes appeared etched in starlight on his brow. His eyes searched the horizon of nights blackest shores for a sign. Then when the seventh moon was at its fullest a great raven could be seen flying out of the east to meet him. Held tightly in its claws was a parcel wrapped in finest tweed woven by the handmaidens of Pwyll Pen Annwn. This material had come from the bridal gown of Lofn which was woven with enchanted gold filigree to protect her from the mischievous Loki.
The raven with a mighty Cronk! let the parcel fall at the feet of the traveller. Then spiralling down from the sky wing swept in black he landed. The traveller recognised this stately bird for it was none other than Foel-goch lord of the raven hordes of A'Chòigeach. Unwrapping the parcel he quickly revealed it to be Am Baistei, the most powerful and the last of the mighty two handed battle axes to have been forged by the ancient iron masters of Rocascreag. Without any hesitation he hefted the axe and swung it in a great arc over his head to cleave the rock of Dunpendyrlaw. Sparks flew as axe hit rock, then axe and rock became one. Then raven and traveller where silhouetted on the skyline by a mighty cataclysm as the iron in the axe called forth it's brethren ore to form as one. In this great metamorphosis was born Eubh who reached back into the cataclysm to pull forth Adhamh and thus they were forged from the moonlight, fire and molten ore. Then the traveller reached into the maelstrom and beckoned forth a large beast which would provide for the people. Turning to Eubh and Adhamh he said this beast and its offspring shall be known as Elancoo care for her and she will provide. With this the couple and their beast walked into the night towards the shores of Bearaig a Tuath. As they went on their way a soft rain came to meet them and as it fell it reacted with their hair and turned it a rich orangey red colour which was a characteristic of the ore from which they were formed.
Thus is the story of the creation of the first people of Scotland; how they got their red hair; how Traprain Law lost its iron ore and gained a great wound to it's side which will never heal.
Yes, this is a time of myth and legend. This could also be portrayed as a time of grunting cavemen saving Raquel Welch from the clutches of a pterodactyl. A time of Pictish princes' with a magic bag of Celtic dreams and New Age nonsense; into which anything can be put and anything taken. This is the period that followed on from the last ice age. A period which is most open to interpretation, due to a lack of a written record. So with no written record we have to rely on archaeology. What we must not lose sight of is the fact that the prehistoric period in Scotland stretched for up to 10 000i years, which is by far the biggest chunk of our history and yet it is the least known and most dismissed.
I think we would be wrong to consider history as a progression of man's existence from prehistoric savagery to modern sophistication; with only a brief period of enlightenment during the Roman period. No, these were normal everyday people going about their everyday lives with all the same hopes, fears, joy, pain and discoveries that people have always done and still do. A world full of courageous pioneers showing ingenuity and vision but also a world of soldiers, thieves priests and idiots; just like it is today.
For our progression through time we will separate it into the traditional periods of prehistory namely; Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Dark Ages. As was mentioned previously there is no written record so we shall try to paint a picture of life in the Luffness area from the finds and excavations that have occurred there. Sometimes we may need to look at the wider context of Scotland so that we can infer what may have been taking place in Luffness.
I have compiled a table of all the archaeological small finds and events that are listed on the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments websiteii. The items relevant to each period will appear in a table in each chapter.

So who were the first people of Scotland and where did they come from?

Any evidence of the first people of Scotland was wiped clear from the landscape by successive ice ages. So, who were the people who first populated the new landscape of Scotland as the ice retreated for the last time and the climate warmed? The short answer is nobody knowsiii. Evidence for the earliest human presence comes to us in the form of archaeological finds such as a flint arrowhead found on Islay and dated to 10 800 BCiv or another flint discovery in 2009 from Biggar:
'Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of human beings ever found in Scotland.'.v
These flints were originally dated to about 3000 BC but are now thought to be similar to tools known to have been used in the Netherlands and northern Germany in about 12,000 BC.
However the earliest available direct Scottish radiocarbon dated evidence for human activity comes from the east coast of Scotland at Cramond near Edinburgh. Waste pits and discarded hazelnut shells found there have been dated to about 8,500 BCvi. East Lothian can boast that they have the oldest remains of a permanent house, which have been dated to about 8000 BC. These were found during an archaeological excavation in 2003 at East Barns near Dunbarvii. I should note at this point that a new contender for the oldest building has been discovered in 2012 at Echline, South Queensferry and I quote:
'.....has been dated to the Mesolithic period, around 10,252 years ago.'viii.
All this evidence indicates that this coast from Howick in Northumberlandix and all along the Firth of Forth was settled very quickly after the last ice retreated. This would mean that people were inhabiting the area before most tree species had recolonised the post glacial landscape. These people would probably have lived by hunting, gathering and fishing in a habitat that would be dominated by grasses, herb species, willow and birch scrubx.
The only personal possessions that survive are their stone tools such as arrowheads and scrapers while their otherwise organic possessions would have rotted back into the earth. So, what remains have been found for people being active in the Luffness area during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods?



Luffness 8000 BC to 2000 BC

We have seen in the previous chapter that this is quite a dynamic coastline, which can either wash away evidence of settlement or bury it under huge amounts of wind blown sand. However, finds from this period do occur and their details can be seen in (Table 1). Many flint items such as arrowheads and scrapers have been found along the coast from Aberlady to Dirleton (illustration 1)xi. These finds are thought to range in date from about 7500 BC to 2000 BC with characteristic change in quality and material from which they were made.

RCAHMS SITE NUMBER LOCATION OF FIND SITE TYPE
NT48SE 20 Gullane Golf Course  ARROWHEAD(S) (FLINT) 
NT48NE 5 Gullane Links  ARROWHEAD(S) (FLINT) 
NT48SE 11 Gullane Point  AXEHEAD (GREENSTONE) 
NT48NE 6 Gullane Links  ARROWHEAD(S) (FLINT),
NT48SE 27 Gullane Links  LITHIC IMPLEMENT(S) (FLINT) 
NT48SE 22 Gullane Sands  MICROLITH(S) 
NT48NE 8 Between Gullane Black Rocks and Eyebroughy MIDDEN(S) 
NT48SE 32 Gala Law  MIDDEN 


Table 1: Stone Age finds from the Luffness area






Illustration 1: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; Donations to and purchases for the museum 1955-56: p458



Flint provided the material from which tools could be made and remained in use for thousands of years. Evidence of settlement in the Luffness area comes from domestic refuse that forms the remains of a midden (NT48SE 32) on the high ground of Gala Law.
Evidence of farming has been found in Scotland that dates back to about 3500 BCxii, when Neolithic man was using fire to clear the forests for grazing animals. However, this was not a linear progression in agriculture but a series of expansions and contractions over hundreds of years dictated by changes in climate, soil exhaustion and erosion.
Finds such as the polished greenstone axe, 3 3/4" x 2 3/4", found in a sandbank at Gullane Point (NT48SE 11) in 1880, indicates that at times a surplus of food was being produced, which allowed the individual who made the axe time to dedicate to developing their skill at axe making. Axes were not only the must have tool for thousands of years but according to the National Museum of Scotland miniature axeheads were probably symbols of power and prestige with some religious significance xiii:
The museum also holds axeheads made of polished flint (illustration 2) from about 3000 BC, one of which was found at Gilmerton at Athelstaneford and is described thusxiv:
'Similar axeheads have been found scattered along the eastern coast of Scotland and England. They were prestige items, for ceremonial use.'.




Illustration 2: These four flint axeheads were found at Craigentinny, Edinburgh, two at Smerrick at Enzie in Banffshire, and the fourth at Gilmerton at Athelstaneford in East Lothian. These axeheads may have been made from flint found off the east coat of England.





The NMS also holds a polished greenstone battle-axe that was found in Longniddry (illustration 3) and could be 4200 years old. The battle axe could have been used as a weapon but it is thought that their principal role was as fashionable prestige objects, or symbols of powerxv.




Illustration 3: These three stone battle axeheads were found at Longniddry in East Lothian, at Portpatrick in Wigtownshire and at Chapelton in Ayrshire. The Portpatrick and Longniddry axeheads are polished, the latter also decorated with broad grooves along the long surfaces. The Chapelton axehead is decorated with three narrow grooves. All were originally mounted on handles.





Symbol of power or for bashing the brains out of your enemy; discoveries like this reveal that a society of sophisticated people were active in the region during the Neolithic period.
If we follow the trail of finds that are listed in the table we can see that the desire for axes did not stop at the stone age but continued on through time into a new age of metallurgy; an age we shall now explore.


ii http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/
iii The New Penguin History of Scotland: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
edited by: R. A. Houston, W. W. J. Knox
London, Allen Lane, The Penguin Press in association with the National Museums of Scotland,  2001, ISBN: 9780713991871 Page 4.
ivMoffat A., 2005, Before Scotland: The story of Scotland Before History, ISBN. 0500005133X, Page. 42
vi http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-471-1/dissemination/pdf/Final_Reports/Ashmore_and_WJ.pdf
vii Gooder, J 2003 Excavating the oldest house in Scotland: East Barns, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scott Archaeol News, 42, 1-2.
viii http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/archaeology/9684898/Prehistoric-home-unearthed-in-Scotland.html
ix Prehistoric Britain (Routledge World Archaeology) by Timothy Darvill, ISBN-10: 0415490278 Edition: 2 page 63
x http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-471-1/dissemination/pdf/Final_Reports/Ashmore_and_WJ.pdf
xi http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_089/89_458_472.pdf
xii The New Penguin History of Scotland: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
edited by: R. A. Houston, W. W. J. Knox
London, Allen Lane, The Penguin Press in association with the National Museums of Scotland,  2001, ISBN: 9780713991871 Page 4.

xv http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-033-045-C&scache=40z7q64fo6&searchdb=scran&PHPSESSID=hnlkvlfb5sflvoga7p7bu2iga6  
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