MESOLITHIC FLINTS AT ROSEHILL FARM
Ian Purvis
We lived for 17 years at Glencreggan when I was farm manager for Adam Bergius. The neighbouring farm, Rosehill, was part of the Glenbarr Estate, but in 1980 it was acquired from the laird and became part of Glencreggan. When the farmhouse had been renovated, we flitted across the road and Rosehill became our home for the next three years.
At Rosehill, a hard track leads from the steading down to the lower fields and the shore. About half-way down, the track crosses a 5ft-deep ditch which had been dug a year or two earlier to flow into another water course in a small gully.
One Sunday in August 1982, I was looking at this ditch and realised that layers of gravel were visible all the way from top to bottom. This indicated a raised beach, and, at about 30ft above the present sea-level, was probably near the highest point reached by the sea after the last Ice Age. My interest suddenly increased when I spotted some small pieces of worked flint lying at the bottom of the ditch. This was very exciting and I began to look all round the area. There were numerous molehills dotted about within an area of about 30 yds each side of the ditch and nearly all of them contained flints. I collected some then and on subsequent occasions and, in the end, had a collection of about 400 flints of various shapes and sizes.
I put some into Campbeltown Museum and the rest into a small chest of drawers where they lay rather forgotten until early this year when I was reminded of them by an article on flints by Alan Saville in The Kintyre Magazine.
I contacted Angus Martin, who expressed interest in visiting the site. On 22 February 2001, I arranged to meet Norman Walker, the present owner of Rosehill, and took him to visit the site. There were no molehills and I found only one flint. Three days later I met Angus Martin and Frances Hood at the farm and we all visited the site, but found no flints.
I handed over the whole collection to Frances, who took it to Alan Saville of the Archaeology Department, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh. This produced a very interesting reply from him, dated 3 May 2001, part of which follows: ‘I have now had the chance to look through the collection of flints from Rosehill Farm. These flints are of considerable interest since they are all of Mesolithic date (ie in the region of 9000 to 6000 years old), relating to a time when the first peoples of Scotland lived entirely by hunting, gathering and fishing, before the introduction of farming about 6000 years ago.
‘There are several distinctive pieces among the flints, such as microliths, microburins, scrapers and cores, which make the Mesolithic attribution definite, and, unusually for an assemblage like this, I can find no indication of admixture from material of later prehistoric periods. That means, if the site from which the flints came is still there, it could well reward archaeological investigation in the future.
‘Meanwhile, these flints are certainly of sufficient importance for them to be claimed under the Treasure Trove procedures ...’
I am quite certain that there are many more flints still lying hidden on the site and further investigation would be well worthwhile.
Two other points might be worth a mention. 1) There is running water near the site. 2) The present-day gully, referred to above, was probably just a little inlet from the sea in Mesolithic times, but it faces North and could have been a fairly sheltered landing-place for small boats.
Editor’s note. The Treasure Trove Panel has allocated the flints to Argyll & Bute Council.
Number 50 Autumn 2001
Wee Drams - E-mails, comments, queries and enlightenment from around the world.
Page 2: A History of the Gilchrists...............continued
Page 3: A 'What if?' Tale from Cindy Nunn
Page 4: Ian & Helen's Scottish Trip - May 2003
Page 6: The Editorial from Number 50 - Autumn 2001
Page 7: By Hill and Shore - Angus Martin
Page 8: Mesolithic Flints at Rosehill Farm