Hardy, K. and Wickham-Jones, C. R., eds. (2009). Mesolithic and later sites around the Inner Sound, Scotland the work of the Scotland's First Settlers project 1998-2004. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. https://doi.org/10.5284/1017938.

The aim of the survey work was to examine the coastline of the Inner Sound for evidence of past human activity. As the focus was primarily on the Mesolithic, upstanding sites that were obviously of a later date, such as cairns, hut circles, shielings and so on were excluded.

Details of topography, geology and geomorphology.

Over 16,500 pieces of flaked stone have been recovered, 451 pieces prior to excavation and over 16,000 pieces from the main excavation in 2000.

A small assemblage of worked and decorative shell was found in the shell midden at Sand. it comprises scallop and cowrie shells and constitutes all the scallop and cowrie from Sand. In addition, a small assemblage of perforated limpet shells has been considered. it is not yet clear whether the limpet perforations are natural or artificial, but it is possible that the shells were deliberately collected.

All of the sherds were small or abraded and had no diagnostic attributes. Fabric has yet to be proved a reliable indicator of date. Most of the pottery comes from high spits and topsoil contexts. As such it does not relate to the Mesolithic use of the site.

Most of these finds are from high spits and they are presumably all more recent than the Mesolithic activity in the rock shelter. The slag remains, including a hearth bottom indicate a single short-lived episode of blacksmithing, and the presence of two melted copper-alloy fragments in the same area suggests that limited bronze working also took place here. The glass beads have a broad date range.

Excavation at Sand has produced one of the largest Mesolithic faunal assemblages in Britain. Substantial quantities of mammal, bird and fish bones have been analysed. The analysis has revealed a focus on a narrow suite of local resources, including wild terrestrial mammals, seabirds and littoral zone fish. The highly fragmentary nature of the mammal assemblage makes interpretation difficult. If the fragmentation is not the result of post-depositional processes, tentative suggestions are the possible skinning of red deer and wild boar, the extraction of bone fat and tool manufacture. The bird remains are dominated almost exclusively by razorbills and guillemots, and their behavioural and breeding patterns place the time of their capture in late spring and early summer, or late summer and autumn. The fish assemblage is dominated by fish from the cod family and wrasse family. The total length estimate distributions for the main gadid taxa, saithe and Pollack, point towards one or more seasons of fishing, targeting different sizes of fish. If this does represent two seasons of fishing, late summer and autumn (possibly into winter), and late spring are the most likely. Based on the size and species of fish, it is likely that stationary traps and nets were the primary method of fishing at Sand.

It would be quite easy to dismiss crabs as a very minor resource in this midden assemblage based only on the quantity present and relative calorific contribution. However, other perspectives are possible which consider individual actions and day to day activities. This approach serves as a reminder that resources were transformed into food through the performance of procurement, preparation and consumption activities and through these actions social relationships were created and maintained.

The charcoal reflects the successive accumulation of debris from small open fires which were located close to midden deposits and used for a range of activities including food processing. The wood used to fuel these fires was most probably collected as deadwood and included poor as well as good fuel woods. The range of wood identified and the proportional representation of each taxon is consistent throughout the site, with only minor variations, irrespective of the nature of each context. This is thought to reflect the short time that the site was in active use, the low diversity of the contemporary woody flora from which the wood originated, and the opportunistic exploitation of deadwood resources. Open woodland dominated by mixed birch/pine and hazel communities probably constituted the principal form of vegetation and this is supported by work on the vegetation of the area today.

While geophysical survey techniques were relatively unproductive at Sand in defining the extent of the midden, there is clear potential to explore further the application of these techniques prior to excavation at other midden sites. This research is needed to determine the character of geophysical responses and to assess the suitability of these techniques for discerning the extent of shell midden deposits. In this way, not only is the suite of non-destructive archaeological techniques for Mesolithic research extended, but also possible later events can be highlighted.

As a part of the project major sources of raw material were visited and the surveyors collected and recorded any nodule material that they found. In addition, walks were made across some of the beaches in the study area in order to look for nodules of suitable materials but little was found. It soon became clear that detailed work on the lithic raw material would involve the individual classification of every archaeological piece by a specialist, and thus be lengthy and expensive. In the event, basic differentiation was done by eye by the author. There is scope for more precise geological work to be done in the future. The analysis of the use of lithic raw material has much to offer the wider picture of prehistoric activity in the area.

The origins of the rockshelters at Sand and An Corran are intimately related to past changes in relative sea-level that took place at the close of the last (Late Devensian) glaciation in Scotland. The relative sea-level changes that took place across the North West Highlands at this time resulted from the complex interplay of glacio-isostatic rebound consequent upon regional ice melting (deglaciation) and the influence of glacio-eustatic changes in global ocean volume linked to the melting of ice sheets worldwide. This account describes the interaction of these two key processes and described how the raised shoreline features of Applecross, Raasay and eastern Skye were mostly formed when sea-level was lower (and not higher) than present.

Pollen, microscopic charcoal and radiocarbon studies at four sites on Skye and Raasay provide environmental contexts for the archaeological investigations of Scotlands's First Settlers around the Inner Sound. One coring site, from a loch in northern Trotternish, Skye, provides a regional summary of environmental change. Other sites closer to the rockshelter at An Corran, Trotternish, furnish more localised pictures of landscapes change, some of which may be associated with human intervention of Mesolithic age, Intertidal organic deposits from Raasay assist in reconstructing the early Holocene environment of the area.

Scotland's First Settlers has been very successful not only at providing information relating to its primary aim, that of looking at the Mesolithic settlement of the Inner Sound, but also at filling out the picture of human activity in the Inner Sound up to the present day. The midden site at the rockshelter of Sand has proved to be one of the earliest midden sites in Scotland, yielding a wealth of information on the material culture, activities and environment of its inhabitants. Other Mesolithic sites broadened the picture. Yet more sites yielded information right up to the present day and they provide a formidable database which we hope will play an important role in future studies of human settlement in the area.

Scotland's First Settlers comprised a survey project to locate and examine sites relating to the earliest, Mesolithic, settlement of the Inner Sound, along the coastlands between Skye and the west coast of Scotland. Particular foci of interest included the existence and nature of midden sites, the use of rockshelters and caves, and the different types of lithic raw material in use. In addition, information relating to the human use of the area up to the present day was recorded. Fieldwork took place over five years between 1999 and 2004: the entire coastline of the Inner Sound together with its islands was walked; 129 new archaeological sites were recorded; 36 sites were shovel pitted; 44 test pitted; and one major excavation took place. Excavation at Sand has been particularly exciting as it has resulted in the analysis of a shell midden dating to the early-mid seventh millennium BC, the early Mesolithic of Scotland. This report comprises the results of survey and excavation work as well as detailed artefact reports, full information on ecofacts such as shell, and bone, and information on the development of the landscape and environment, including sea level change. Finally, the broad-scale coverage of the project has led to a number of discussion points that have much to offer further work, both within the area and further afield. Digital material associated with this project is available through Archaeology Data Service (ADS) archive Scotland's First Settlers.