mesolithic – Page 2 – Caroline Wickham-Jones

Excavating the Mesolithic

Excavation in progress on the Mesolithic site at Kinloch, Rum, in the 1980s. The site was preserved under a thin skim of ploughsoil, as it is cleaned back it is possible to see the darker colours of the fills in Mesolihtic pits and hollows beginning to show up.

Mesolithic sites rarely make glamorous excavations. All too often they seem to comprise a corner of a muddy field where there is little to be seen except for a strange pattern of discolourations in the subsoil, and possibly some accumulations of broken stone. I spent much of my early career crouching down Continue reading Excavating the Mesolithic

New Publication

The full paper may be found in British Archaeology magazine for January/February 2020.

Just a brief note of a short paper that has come out in British Archaeology magazine which some might find of interest. I’m hoping to work it into a more detailed academic publication as well.

Parallel Realities

Life in the past was affected by different weather conditions just as we are today.

I’m writing this in a total whiteout. I can’t see anything, and I half expect a shoal of fish to swim past the window. Continue reading Parallel Realities

Living in Mesolithic Scotland

The lives of our Mesolithic ancestors were very different to ours. What can they teach us?

I’ve been working on a text about life in Mesolithic Scotland for a teaching resource. It has got me thinking about one of my favourite subjects: the ways in which our life differs so much from that of our Mesolithic ancestors and yet we still value skills that would have been very familiar to those who made their home here eight thousand years ago. Continue reading Living in Mesolithic Scotland

Fun in the Test Pit

At the end of February I spent a long weekend in Aberdeenshire, investigating one of the largest, and most significant, hunter-gatherer sites in Scotland. Of course, I was not working alone, there was a big team of us including Continue reading Fun in the Test Pit

Old Collections

Some of the stone tools collected by Dr Grieve. They are not all quite as interesting as this, but it will be fascinating to see what is in the collection. The finger ring is there for scale!

With the help of some generous funding from various research grants (Society of Antiquaries of London, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Marc Fitch Fund and Aberdeenshire Council) I have recently embarked on an exciting new project. Continue reading Old Collections