| The way of life of the Hunter Gatherer of the Mesolithic
carried on virtually unchanged until around 4000 BC, when
the first evidence of farming appears in the archaeological
record. This technological advance signalled the beginning
of the Neolithic or “New Stone Age.”
The knowledge of agriculture and domesticated livestock
seems to have come to Prehistoric Scotland via the influence
of immigrants from continental Europe. The Neolithic farmers
seem to have existed alongside the Hunter-Gatherer natives
for some time before the more settled, farming lifestyle
rendered the nomadic Hunter – Gatherer life obsolete.
The Neolithic farmers began to build permanent settlements
and, by using fire and more advanced stone tools like polished
stone axes, began the deforestation of large sections of
land for the planting of crops. The modern agricultural
landscape of the NE of Scotland has its origins in the
actions of these earliest of farmers.
The people of the Neolithic were also the builders of
the stone circles, the henges and burial Cairns that pepper
the landscape of Scotland. The exact nature or purpose
of these monuments will forever remain a mystery. However,
they represent the earliest example of the people of Scotland
saying “We Are Here.”
On site, you can visit reconstructed examples of a Recumbent
Stone Circle, a Class One Henge and the reconstructed posthole
foundation of a Neolithic Timber Hall, based on the Balbridie
site near Banchory in Aberdeenshire.
View the 10,000
Years Map |