Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:00:25.934Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Red Deer Hunters on Colonsay? The Implications of Staosnaig for the Interpretation of the Oronsay Middens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

S. J. Mithen
Affiliation:
The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 62 Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3JW
B. Finlayson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, 19 George Square, Edinburgh

Abstract

Knowing the source of the red deer in the Mesolithic shell middens on Oronsay is necessary for a reconstruction of the early post-glacial settlement patterns in the southern Hebrides. If they came from Colonsay, then it is conceivable that the combined resources of Colonsay and Oronsay could have supported a population on these small islands for extended periods of time — as the seasonally data from the middens suggests when taken at face value. If there were no red deer on Colonsay, it is more likely that the Oronsay middens result from many short intermittent visits to the island. Since early post-glacial faunal assemblages are unknown from Colonsay, and unlikely to be found, this paper discusses the relevance of lithic assemblages for inferring the hunting of red deer. It describes recent fieldwork on Colonsay and the discovery of the first Mesolithic sites, notably that of Staosnaig. It concludes that the microlithic elements within the assemblages are too small to indicate red deer hunting. If Mesolithic foragers went to Colonsay to hunt red deer, they probably left rather quickly and empty-handed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bonsall, C. & Smith, C. 1989. Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic bone and antler artefacts from Britain: First reactions to accelerator dates. Mesolithic Miscellany 10(1), 3337.Google Scholar
Finlayson, B. 1990a. A pragmatic approach to the functional analysis of chipped stone tools. Unpublished Ph.D.Thesis, Dept of Archaeology, Edinburgh University.Google Scholar
Finlayson, B. 1990b. The many dimensions of assemblage variability in Mesolithic south-west Scotland. Scottish Archaeological Review (in press).Google Scholar
Fischer, A., Hansen, P. V. & Rasmussen, P. 1984. Macro and micro wear traces on lithic projectile points. Journal of Danish Archaeology 3, 1946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grigson, C. & Mellars, P. 1987. The mammalian remains from the middens. In Mellars, P. (ed.), Excavations on Oronsay, 243–89. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Jardine, W. G. 1987. The mesolithic coastal setting. In Mellars, P. (ed.), Excavations on Oronsay, 2551. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Lister, A. 1989. Rapid dwarfing of red deer on Jersey in the last inter-glacial. Nature, London 34, 539–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCullough, R. 1990. Excavations at Newton, Islay. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (in press).Google Scholar
Mellars, P. (ed.) 1987. Excavations on Oronsay. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Mellars, P. & Wilkinson, M. R. 1980. Fish otoliths as indicators of seasonality in prehistoric shell middens: the evidence from Oronsay (Inner Hebrides). Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 46, 1944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. 1968. Stone tools from a washing limit deposit of the highest post-glacial transgression, Lealt Bay, Isle of Jura. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 100, 146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. 1970. Flint tools from the present tidal zone, Lussa Bay, Isle of Jura. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 102, 130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. 1971. A regression time stone-workers' camp, 33 ft OD, Lussa River, Isle of Jura. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 103, 132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. 1972. Microlithic and Bronze Age camps, 75–26 ft OD, N. Carn, Isle of Jura. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 104, 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. 1974. Glenbatrick Waterhole, a microlithic site on the Isle of Jura. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 105, 932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. 1980. Lussa Wood I: the Late-glacial and early post-glacial occupation of Jura. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 110, 132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mercer, J. & Searight, S. 1986. Glengarrisdale: confirmation of Jura's third phase. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 116, 4155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mithen, S. 1990a. Gleann Mor: A Mesolithic site on Islay. Current Archaeology 119, 376–77.Google Scholar
Mithen, S. 1990b. New evidence for Mesolithic settlement on Colonsay. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 119, 3341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mithen, S. & Finlayson, B. 1989. The Southern Hebrides Mesolithic Project: Second Interim Report. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Wickham-Jones, C. 1990. Rhum: Mesolithic and Later Sites at Kinlock. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodman, P. 1987. The impact of resource availability on lithic industrial traditions in prehistoric Ireland. In Rowley-Conwy, P. et al. (eds), Mesolithic Northwest Europe: Recent trends, 138–46. Sheffield: Dept of Prehistory and Archaeology.Google Scholar