Mesolithic sedentism on Oronsay: chronological evidence from adjacent islands in the southern Hebrides

Mithen, Steven

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00059329

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Finlayson and Edwards 1997;Mithen and Finlayson 1991), the evidence from Cnoc Coig shows as complete a reliance on marine foods -approaching 90-100% of the protein intake over a period of some years -as has been noted for the coastal Ertebølle in Denmark (Tauber 1981(Tauber , 1986. The proposal recently forwarded by Mithen (2000), that this may be an anomaly restricted to the very latest Mesolithic, is an interesting one, which we take up further in the discussion section.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…An integrated economy combining traditional and novel elements within a single population is not a viable scenario in light of the stable isotope evidence, which, it should be recalled, reflects long-term averaged diet. That such high reliance on marine-derived protein should fall so late finds resonance with Mithen's (2000) recent suggestion that this extreme maritime adaptation may be an anomaly restricted to the very latest Mesolithic. The implication is that more traditionally-oriented communities were under pressure from new Neolithic communities -whatever their origins -on the mainland and the larger islands, making competing demands on territories, and perhaps challenging earlier patterns of joint exploitation.…”

Section: Farming For Beginnersmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The economic role of domesticated resources in the Neolithic has been increasingly downplayed (see Bender's (1992) review of Hodder (1990) and Thomas (1991)). This is perhaps especially so on the west coast of Scotland, where site locations and the occasional remains of shellfish in chambered tombs suggest the continued use of marine resources Finlayson 1992, 1996;Mithen 2000;Pollard 1990Pollard , 1996G. Ritchie 1997;Sharples 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The wet, the wild and the domesticated: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland

Richards

2002

Eur. j. archaeol.

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Models of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain in recent years have tended to downplay the role of changes in the subsistence economy, emphasizing a very gradual adoption of new domesticated resources. This view has been particularly pervasive for the west coast of Scotland, which in the context of Britain presents a relatively marginal environment for farming. In this article, we challenge this too-quickly emerging orthodoxy through the presentation and discussion of both new and previously published stable isotope data and AMS dates. The palaeodietary information, while limited, strongly suggests a very rapid and complete change in the subsistence economy coincident with the earliest manifestations of the Neolithic on the west coast of Scotland early in the fourth millennium cal. BC. Whatever explanation is invoked to account for the transition needs to engage with the isotopic data. The possibility of colonization at some level needs to be seriously reconsidered.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Farming For Beginnersmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The wet, the wild and the domesticated: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland

Richards

2002

Eur. j. archaeol.

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“…This, together with their relatively isolated geographical position, strongly suggests that these were among the last individuals on the west coast of Scotland to follow a purely, perhaps even exaggerated, 'Mesolithic' way of life (cf. Mithen 2000).…”

Section: Neolithic Variability?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A response to Richards and Schulting

et al. 2006

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Stable isotope analysis has startled the archaeological community by showing a rapid and widespread change from a marine to terrestrial diet (ie from fish to domesticated plants and animals) as people moved from a Mesolithic to a Neolithic culture. This could be a consequence of domestication, or as Julian Thomas (2003) proposed, of a kind of taboo ('Touch not the fish'). In a key challenge, Nicky Milner and her colleagues (2004) questioned the reality of this nutritional revolution, contrasting the message of the bones and shells found on settlement sites, with the isotope measurements in the bones of people. Here Mike Richards and Rick Schulting, champions of the diet-revolution, strongly reinforce the arguments. The change was real, it seems: so what does it mean? Milner and colleagues respond.

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“…On the basis of seasonality data from measuring saithe otolith lengths (Mellars & Wilkinson 1980), year-round occupation of the small 4 km² island was posited with movement between the various midden locations at different times of the year (Mellars 1978;2004, 117). In contrast to this model of Oronsay sedentism, it has also been argued that the shell middens resulted from short-term and intermittent occupation by groups based primarily elsewhere, such as on the neighbouring islands of Colonsay, Jura, and Islay (eg, Mithen & Finlayson 1991;Mithen 2000a). Stable isotope analysis of human remains from Cnoc Coig of individuals with extreme marine and others with mixed terrestrial dietary signatures have contributed another dimension to this debate and been used to support both models without clear resolution (Richard & Mellars 1998;Milner & Craig 2009;Charlton et al 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

Calling Time on Oronsay: Revising Settlement Models Around the Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in Western Scotland, New Evidence from Port Lobh, Colonsay

Finlay

Cerón-Carrasco

Housley

et al. 2019

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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For over 120 years, the shell middens of western Scotland and the series of open-air sites on Oronsay have been the focus of debate in European Mesolithic studies. This paper challenges the significance of Oronsay in light of results from the geophysical survey and test-excavation of a new limpet and periwinkle shell midden dated to the late 5th or start of the 4th millennium cal bc at Port Lobh, Colonsay that offers fresh evidence to re-evaluate critically the role of Oronsay and coastal resources in island settlement models ahead of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Test excavations recovered a marine molluscan assemblage dominated by limpet and periwinkle shells together with crab, sea urchin, a fishbone assemblage composed mainly of Gadidae, some identifiable bird and mammal bone, carbonised macroplant remains, and pumice as well as a bipolar lithic assemblage and coarse stone implements. Novel seasonality studies of saithe otolith thin-sections suggest wintertime tidal fishing practices. At least two activity events may be discerned, dating from the late 5th millennium cal bc. The midden could represent a small number of rapidly deposited assemblages or maybe the result of stocastic events within a more extended timeframe. We argue that alternative research questions are needed to advance long-standing debates about seasonal inter-island mobility versus island sedentism that look beyond Oronsay to better understand later Mesolithic occupation patterns and the formation and date of Oronsay middens. We propose alternative methodological strategies to aid identification of contemporaneous sites using geophysical techniques and lithic technological signatures.

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Mesolithic sedentism on Oronsay: chronological evidence from adjacent islands in the southern Hebrides

Abstract: Research on the Mesolithic in the west of Scotland has been gathering momentum since the 1980s. Here, Steven Mithen analyses dates for near-by islands and proposes possible settlement models for the Mesolithic.

Cited by 11 publications

References 14 publications

The wet, the wild and the domesticated: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland

The wet, the wild and the domesticated: The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland

A response to Richards and Schulting

Calling Time on Oronsay: Revising Settlement Models Around the Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition in Western Scotland, New Evidence from Port Lobh, Colonsay

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