Important Events in Hebridean History
The Mesolithic Period (with audio)
Main Article
David Simon
The last Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago. The Islands emerged from under the ice, and began to take their modern pattern as the sea level slowly began to rise.
Soon plants and trees began to colonise, and the variety of birds and animals increased. Then came man, the hunter-gatherers, who lived from fishing and seafood, from hunting seals, from sea-birds and their eggs, from gathering plants, nuts and berries, and eventually from hunting of the red deer, although it is unclear when the deer arrived, or whether they swam across or were brought by man.
Early prehistoric anvil stones
Langais (ARCUS)
During the Mesolithic, or middle stone age, period, humans left a very light footprint on the environment, as they did not build permanent houses or monuments, or practice agriculture. The evidence for them is therefore tantalisingly slight. Even their coastline, where much of their activity would have taken place, is lost to us, as sea levels then were as much as 10 metres lower than at present, and their shoreline would have lain far to the west, now under the Atlantic waves.
However, the pollen record suggests that human activity, such as burning in the landscape to create clearings, was taking place. And there is direct archaeological evidence at two sites, at Taobh Tuath (Northton) in Harris, and at Langais in North Uist. It is likely that more will be discovered, as archaeologists become more successful at finding Mesolithic sites in the Outer Hebrides.
Audio Interpretations
This event features additional audio content. To listen to this content, either click on the inline player below each audio item (this requires Flash player to be installed on your machine), or click on the filename to download a copy to play on your computer.
- Listen to the clip in English
Or download the MP3 file to your computer. - Listen to the clip in Gaelic
Or download the MP3 file to your computer.
