Arrochar

NN20SE 40 NN 294 034

In 2004, a small quartz assemblage (c 20 pieces) was recovered from a private garden on a small terrace, c 30 x 60m, situated on the E side of Loch Long at its northern end at approximately 15m OD. The collection includes mainly debitage,

but one scraper and other retouched pieces were also found. The topographical situation, on a small terrace by a small watercourse, indicates that the assemblage may represent the abandoned waste of a hunting party, suggesting a Mesolithic date. However, as hunting also formed part of later prehistoric economies, and as the assemblage appears to be the product of a relatively simple flake industry, the finds are more likely to date to the Neolithic or Bronze Age.

The quartz artefacts were retrieved from a c 40cm thick layer of garden soil (a flower bed), and no undisturbed settlement material is likely to have been left in situ. The quartz concentration was rather small, with a radius of at most 5-6m, supporting the hypothesis of the finds being the remains of one short-duration visit to the site.

T Bjarke Ballin 2005