An
Introduction to Ancient Scotland
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From about 8,000
BC the first people came to Scotland from Europe in what archaeologists
call the Mesolithic period. These were the hunter-gatherers: nomads
who lived in temporary camps, hunted animals like deer and fish,
and lived off the plentiful supplies of fruits and berries found
in the forests
Around 4,000 BC a great change took place in the lifestyle
of Scotland’s early peoples. In what is called the Neolithic
period they settled down and started to farm the land, clearing
the forests to plant crops and tend animals like cattle and sheep.
Mostly they settled
where many Scots live today: in fertile river valleys, building
farmsteads or small village communities. Surrounding their settlements
was a ritual landscape of chambered tombs holding the bones of their
ancestors and great stone circles like Callanish on Lewis or The
Ring of Brodgar on Orkney.
The Callanish
Stones on the Isle of Lewis: between 4.5-5 thousand years old, with
alignments to the moon and the points of the compass.
The
discovery around 2,500 BC of how to turn rock into
metals revolutionised society as the Bronze Age began.
At first
gold jewellery or bronze axes were imported, but within
500 years metal was being worked here. Scotland lay
on the main trade route from gold-rich Ireland to
northern Europe. Along its path new power centres
emerged like Kilmartin in Argyll, while places like
Orkney lost out.
Those who controlled the trade in metal gathered wealth
and flaunted new symbols of power: finely crafted
bronze swords, intricately patterned shields and large
spear heads for flamboyant display. People began to
be buried individually with grave goods for their
afterlife, and made rich offerings to gods and goddesses,
like the Ballahulish figurine, for good fortune.
The
climate was warmer than it is today; agriculture flourished
and the population expanded, even high upland pastures
were farmed for crops. But in the late Bronze Age
the climate rapidly cooled, increasing the competition
for resources.
Around
700 BC metal workers figured out how to smelt iron, heralding
the start of the Iron Age. Stronger and more abundant
than bronze, iron was far superior for making weapons
and armour - further accelerating social change. Prosperous
farmers built defensive houses like brochs and crannogs
against raiding warbands or looked to powerful warlords
or chieftains in hill forts to protect their rich farmlands.
Two
thousand years ago Scotland was covered with a patchwork
of different tribes that spoke languages akin to Gaelic
and Welsh. It wasn’t a dark forested land inhabited
by savages but a complex and sophisticated civilisation
that had successfully shaped its environment in order
to survive. In AD 79 our mysterious ancestors faced
their greatest challenge, a Roman invasion.
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