Historic Scotland: Getting to grips with Perthshire’s Neolithic period

Mar 12 2010 by Alison Lowson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

ARCHAEOLOGY often investigates the unknown, so it can be full of surprises. Each time you feel you are getting to grips with an aspect of the past, something happens that raises new questions and challenges existing ideas.

For example, in Perthshire the enigmatic Cleaven Dyke was long thought to be Roman. This was partly due to its sheer scale – people believed only the Romans could build something so impressive. But investigations, sponsored by Historic Scotland, showed that it is much, much older. In fact it dates from the Neolithic period – what schoolbooks called the New Stone Age when I was growing up. That means that this 2.5km long earth monument flanked by parallel ditches, was created using simple tools of wood, stone and antler rather than the sophisticated iron equipment available to the Romans. Known as a cursus, this huge ceremonial structure which still stands up to 2m tall, fills me with admiration.

I am especially fascinated by the Neolithic period, and how sophisticated its societies were, regardless of their simple technology. But it can be difficult to get any sense of emotional connection with the people of 5,000 years ago, whose names and beliefs are lost. That’s why it was so exciting last year when the team at an Historic Scotland dig I was overseeing on Westray, in Orkney, uncovered what has become known as the Orkney Venus.

This 4cm-tall carved pebble was an instant media and archaeological sensation as she is Scotland’s oldest representation of a person, with the earliest human face discovered in Britain. It’s not just her age that’s amazing, it’s the fact that the extreme rarity of figurines in this country suggested that representations of the human form may have been taboo. So, huge new questions; are we wrong about the taboo, or was she something highly unusual? That aside, this little piece of art is wonderful because she puts us directly in touch with someone from very long ago – the person who carved her shape, inscribed the features of her face, and may have smiled with pleasure at their workmanship.

You can now see the Orkney Venus for yourself as she is on display in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle from tomorrow (March 12) until next Friday. Historic Scotland also has a special offer that means each paying adult can bring up to six children into the castle for free while the exhibition is on.

Whether or not you can get to the exhibition, you can admire the Orkney Venus on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/historicscotlandtv. And hopefully she will inspire you to go out and enjoy some of the ancient sites and art works in and around Perthshire.

If you are a fan of the Picts there are the Dunfallandy Stone, the Fowlis Wester Sculptured Stone and the Dupplin Cross. If you want something genuinely – though the remains are quite slight – Roman, there’s the Blackhill Camp and the signal stations at Ardunie and Muir o’ Fauld. Details of these, and many other ancient sites, are on our website at www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/.

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at Stirling Castle at www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/ and for more about the Links of Noltland see http://www.westrayheritage.co.uk/.

Kids Go Free – up to six children for every paying adult. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.