Hebridean archaeology shows movement of people and animals

But now fresh research is challenging the traditional view of places such as Barra, Lewis and Canna, while also shining a light on the biases which developed and still linger today.  

It is coming to light that in ancient times the islands were home to a vibrant and outward-looking people who traded far and wide using the highways of the sea. 

Long, long before Calmac was a thing, people navigated the waters in boats big enough to transport livestock, possibly sailing as far as Ireland to trade for stone tools and other items, while criss-crossing the waters between their island homes to treat with each other.  

PhD student Mairi MacLean, herself from Barra, has spent years studying the movement of people and animals across the Inner and Outer Hebrides during the Neolithic and Bronze ages.  

Vatersay Bay, Barra

Ms MacLean, who will present her research at an online seminar this Friday, said that the academic world has been slow to recognise the endeavors and ingenuity of the islands’ prehistoric people. 

She said: “For centuries, particularly in prehistory, the fastest way to travel anywhere and to move objects or large-scale things, would be over water whether that’s rivers or seas.  

“With the inner Hebrides and outer Hebrides, going not too far back – maybe to the Middle Ages or the Vikings  - The Vikings are generally considered to have been very well connected. They went all the way to the Middle east and Iceland and Greenland.  

“That was by boat, not by land. And it’s interesting that the culture of the Vikings is seen in that way (as voyagers and explorers), whereas the more Celtic fringes of Scotland are not.” 

Using isotope analysis of chemical traces left in ancient animal bones, Ms Maclean’s research has established that there was significant movement of animals across the Hebrides in ancient times.  

So far, her work has centered on those of red deer – which were moved across the Outer Hebrides, and cattle, which circulated in the inner islands.  

No remains of boats big enough to move herds of animals has been found, but other research and archeological finds has established that coracles - vessels made from animal hide stretched on a wicker frame – and dugout canoes would likely have been familiar to the island seafarers. 

A reconstructed coracle 

Wooden boats are unlikely to have been preserved, though the search goes on. It is possible that the remains of a larger craft could be found. 

But while wood rots, stone is permanent and it is such solid artefacts that are providing the most telling clues to interconnected island life thousands of years ago.  

An arrowhead found on the island of lewis made from bloodstone could only have come from one place – and outcrop of the material on the island of Rum.  

Similarly, stone axes made of porcellanite from County Antrim in Ireland have been found across the Hebrides as well as the rest of Britain, including the islands of Arran, Barra, Eigg, Islay and Mull. 

All this adds up to a tantalising picture of a vibrant, seafaring history for the ancient inhabitants of the isles.  

But one that will only become fully known if people give up their preconceptions of these ‘remote’ regions.  

Ms Maclean said: “I think the reason depends on the islands in question and the cultures in question. With respect to the Hebrides I think it may be linked into the fact they were populated by Gaelic speakers. 

“Highlanders and Gaelic speakers in the past couple of centuries haven’t necessarily been viewed with the most positive of lights through the rest of the UK. 

“That kind of comes into it, especially nowadays as the Hebrides are considered the ‘last bastion’ of Gaelic. I think that ties into it a lot – it makes them sound more old-fashioned, maybe culturally backwards.  

“That’s one of the ways this has entered the UK’s social consciousness.” 

In the Heart of Beyond: Hebridean Neolithic & Bronze Age Population Movements (Mairi MacLean) is open to the public and can be joined here