Scottish Archaeological Journal

Brief synopsis of the lecture series, which discuss a new theoretical framework for the relationships between humans and material culture, termed by the author `Thing Theory', and demonstrates its application to the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey.

Topsoil stripping in advance of an extension to sand and gravel quarrying operations at Kingarth, Isle of Bute, revealed a series of ditches, the remains of a small oval structure and discrete concentrations of worked stone artefacts. The site is situated on a raised beach deposit on the east-facing Kilchattan Bay. The ditches formed a discrete grouping on the higher, gravel deposits in the westernmost part of the site whilst the oval structure, defined by a shallow slot trench and enclosing an area measuring 7m by 3.5m, lay in the eastern part of the site on fine sand deposits. Despite the absence of reliable dating material, the ditch features are probably relatively modern features and correspond closely to field boundaries shown on the Ordnance Survey first edition map (1863) whilst the oval structure is thought to be a habitation site of possible Neolithic date. Neolithic stone tool working debitage was recorded from a scatter 200m away. If correct, then the discoveries at Kingarth potentially add to the limited corpus of information on Neolithic settlement structures in the west of Scotland and Britain in general. Includes

An iron-working bloomery mound was excavated by in 2004 at the head of Glen Docherty, near Kinlochewe, Achnasheen, Highland. A mound of waste material was excavated and dated to the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries on the basis of radiocarbon analysis. A solidified bed of ferruginous deposit was revealed during the bloomery mound excavations but was found to be of an earlier date (1050--1285 AD). There was no further evidence for metalworking installations. A charcoal-burning platform was also excavated in Glen Docherty in 2005 and radiocarbon dated to the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. The above provide evidence for a long involvement with iron making in this part of the western Highlands and prior to the seventeenth century when the area, and the north shore of Loch Maree in particular, became known as the location for the installation of the first charcoal-operated blast furnace in Scotland. Includes

Exhibition review.