Looking up for the Mesolithic - Michael Butler - ARP 2022

Looking Up for the Mesolithic: Finding, Managing and Understanding the Mesolithic
of the Cairngorms
This paper will review two ongoing projects focused on the Mesolithic settlement
of the Cairngorm mountains, both of which developed from the international and
interdisciplinary Upper Dee Tributaries Project which focused on the NTS property
at Mar Lodge Estate. The first project is Society of Antiquaries of Scotland funded
excavation at Sgör an Edin, a Later Mesolithic lithic scatter located high in Glen
Dee. Following our identification of the site during walkover survey in 2015, test pit
excavation to better understand the site took place in Sept 2021. This has clarified
key issues about the location and how it compares to other Mesolithic sites in the
Cairngorm mountains. Further fieldwork including open area excavation is anticipated in
2022. The second project is the Irish Research Council funded 'Looking Up. This project
combines archaeological and geological perspectives on the High Cairngorm to attempt
to predict possible locations of Mesolithic activity, with the intention of contributing
to the management of these ephemeral and poorly understood sites. This is critically
important because mountains are dynamic landscapes, with climate and socio-
economic change having significant, and poorly understood impacts on archaeological
sites. Looking Up combines new data on the deglaciation of the Cairngorms with
innovative models of ice cover and agent-based models to predict potential site
location. A new aspect of our work is the use of areas of long-lasting snow on the high
plateau to predict possible hunting grounds. Our fieldwork in July 2022 will take place at
over 1000m OD.
Presentation by Michael Butler
University College Dublin

[@heidigilmore4543]

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