Glen Avon

A long history of human occupation in and around Glen Avon is indicated by the discovery of three prehistoric artefacts in the area.

The earliest of these is believed to be a bone point, recovered from a peat moss. One edge has been carved to form a row of barbs. Originally, the object would have formed part of a larger, composite artefact, perhaps a spear or harpoon used to bring down large quarry like deer. These bone points are thought to date to the Mesolithic, the post-Glacial period of around 7,000 years ago. At this time, people lived by exploiting the natural world through hunting and gathering.

The other objects are arrowheads, both manufactured from flint. They are considerably later in date, originating from a time when hunting would have been practised by farmers seeking to supplement their diet with game. The first is a leaf-shaped arrowhead, dating to the Neolithic period, i.e. the fourth to the second millennia BC. The second is a barbed-and-tanged arrowhead, which probably dates to the Early Bronze Age, (2,500 - 1500BC).

The barbed point is held in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, while the arrowheads were last recorded in the collections of the Archaeological Institute, London.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project

NJ10NW 1 c. 10 05

Formerly entered as Unlocated.

A fine bone point with a single row of four recurved points and bearing a general resemblance to certain forms produced in the Obanian industries of Oronsay, is in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, and labelled as found in a peat-moss at Glenavon.

Also found in Glenavon were two flint arrowheads, one leaf-shaped and one barbed and tanged, which were presented to the Archaeological Institute.

Archaeol J 1853; A D Lacaille 1954.