Period: Mesolithic
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Storegga tsunami
It has been estimated that the Storegga tsunami (between 8120 and 8175 BP) produced waves of +2 m on Tiree. (Woodroffe, S. A. et al. (2023) On the varied impact of the Storegga tsunami in northwest Scotland, Journal Quaternary Science, 38, pp. 1219-1232).
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‘First Footsteps’ by Mithen: book
Booklet “First Footsteps – searching for prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the Hebrides” summarising the archaeological findings of Prof. Steven Mithen and colleagues from the University of Reading during their surveys of Tiree, Coll, Gunna, Mull, Colonsay & Oronsay and Islay during 2006. Includes a letter from Steven Mithen to Dr John Holliday (02/04/08) and a copy of a research note about his work at Fiskary Bay, Coll, published in Scottish Archarological News.Type: BookIsland: Tiree and Coll -
‘The impact of the abrupt 8.2 ka cold event on the Mesolithic population of western Scotland’: Wicks and Mithen
Scientific paper ‘The impact of the abrupt 8.2 ka cold event on the Mesolithic population of western Scotland: a Bayesian chronoligcal analysis using ‘activity events’ as a population proxy’. Published in the Journal of Archaeologial Science, 2014, by Karen Wicks and Steven Mithen, University of Reading.Type: PaperIsland: Tiree and Coll -
Data Site Report and watching brief: 5 Kilmoluaig
See also Kilpatrick, M. (2025) ‘Evidence of Early Prehistoric Settlement on Land South-east of Slievh at No. 5 Kilmoluaig, Isle of Tiree’ Scottish Archaeological Journal 47 (2025): pp. 99–111.
Summary:
‘The watching brief and excavation of a house plot in the north of Tiree revealed
evidence, although limited in extent, of a wooden structure, defined by postholes
and its possible floor deposit. A small number of hearths together with larger pits
including a stone-lined one were also excavated. The environmental samples which
included evidence of wild food resources, barley, charcoal from fuel as well as
burnt peat, suggested there were two phases of activity at the site – later Neolithic
and into the Bronze Age. The typo-technological attributes of the flint artefacts
also suggested activity in the later Neolithic/early Bronze Age period, and the few
sherds of pottery that survived also indicated use of the site, possibly as early
as the middle Neolithic and into the later Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The two
radiocarbon dates that were returned from later features suggested a Mesolithic
time-frame, indicating the danger of reliance on hazel nutshell for dating purposes.’
All samples are in Kilmartin Museum. -
Date of peat sample from Balephetrish beach
Peat washed up on Balephetrish beach dated to 9474 years +/- 32 years (Jim Hill, Coll, pers. comm. 2017). The sample was tested through Glasgow University. -
Two possible Larne picks
‘Larne picks (?), 2; objects not yet seen: R.Livens’ identification in 1951′ -
Two ‘Inner Hebrides Mesolithic Project’ reports, 2004
IHMP run by Professor Steve Mithen, Reading University:
1. Report on the ‘Inner Hebrides Mesolithic Project 2004’
2. Report on the ‘Tiree Evaluation Survey’ by Steven Mithen, Tim Astin, Erika Guttmann, Anne Pirie, Sam Smith and Karen Wicks.
Report on the Tiree evaluation survey conducted by Professor Steven Mithen and others from the School of Human and Environmental Sciences, Reading University in the summer of 2004.
Paper copies of both held in An Iodhlann
The IHMP was superseded by the Inner Hebrides Archaeological Project in 2005. -
Bronze Age pottery at ‘Giant’s Grave’, Kirkapol
Report by Ann MacSween on the fragments of hand-made pottery found during excavation of Cnoc an Fhiommheir / Giant’s Grave at Lodge Farm, Kirkapol, in 2017.
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‘The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Scotland: a review and new evidence from Tiree’
Mithen, S. et al. (2007) ‘The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in western Scotland: a review and new evidence from Tiree’. In A. Whittle, and V. Cummings (eds), Going Over: The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in North-West Europe: pp. 511-541. Oxford: British Academy. -
Bevelled pebble Balevullin
Bishop, A (1914) An Oransay Shell-mound—A Scottish Pre-Neolithic Site. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 48, pp. 52–108. Contains the passage: ‘Noted “limpet gouge found by the writer on the sands at Balevullin in the summer of 1911”
Note from archaeologist and coarse stone tool expert Anne Clarke: ‘We use the term “bevelled pebble” now. These stones are narrow, elongated pebbles that have been bevelled on the end by grinding and pecking.’ See Clarke, A. et al. (2012) ‘The Tie that Binds: an incised Mesolithic bevelled pebble from Camas Daraich, Skye’, Mesolithic Miscellany, 22(1), pp. 3–9