that is at variance with Watts' (1985) Irish data which shows that this phase may have lasted

for only a few hundred years (cf. Tipping, 1991a). There is, therefore, some uncertainty as to when the climatic deterioration of the Loch Lomond Stadial commenced, and it is possible to see the period around 12,000 BP as being critical (Tipping, 1986a; 1991a). However, the sediment and geochemical stratigraphies emphasise the markedly more substantial changes in soil erosion within 1.p.a. zones C and D which are correlated with the Loch Lomond Stadial (Figure 4.1). The Stadial is subdivided into two local pollen assemblage zones on the basis of increases in Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae, suggestive of increased aridity during the later part of the Loch Lomond Stadial (cf Frenzel, 1979; Walker, 1975; McPherson, 1980). The Lateglacial record at Pulpit Hill suggests that this period was characterised by complex and rapid fluctuations in climate, not simply by one episode of climatic deterioration recognised by the Loch Lomond Stadial. The earliest climatic downturn probably predates 12,000 BP; however, there is no evidence to suggest that this phase should be correlated with the Older Dryas period of Mangerud et al. (1974) (Tipping, 1991b). Later, at ca. 12,000 BP, came a second and apparently more sustained climatic decline, which led to the Loch Lomond Stadial. It is possible to use the sedimentological and palynological data to suggest that the climate of the Loch Lomond Stadial was more severe than in the earlier fluctuation, but this may be too simplistic, and it seems that we are not yet in a position to define the precise character of the climatic changes during this period.

4.2.

THE OBAN CAVES J.C. Bonsall & D.G. Sutherland

Around Oban Bay the Main Rock Platform is backed by a cliffline developed in a variety of rock types. Caves are common at the base of this cliffline, the entrances partially obscured by talus deposits. They comprise caverns, rockshelters, fissures and small crevices, their formation and morphology having been controlled by bedrock lithology and structure (Gray, 1972; Macklin & Rumsby 1991). They are particularly well developed in outcrops of Dalradian black slates and Lower Old Red Sandstone conglomerates and intrusive andesites, many being eroded along fault planes and joints. The Oban caves have attracted interest since the nineteenth century. Between 1867 and 1896 a number of caves containing archaeological remains were discovered when talus deposits were removed during building operations (Turner, 1872, 1895; Anderson, 1895,

1898). Two of these, MacArthur Cave (NM 859 304) and Druimvargie Rockshelter (NM 857 296), were investigated by Anderson. The sequence of deposits infilling MacArthur Cave, as described by Anderson (1895). was (from top to bottom): (i) talus; (ii) black earth; (iii) 'shell-bed' 0.68-0.91 m thick, extending over the entire cave floor; and (iv) fine gravel ca 1.83 m thick composed of small rounded stones - stratified within the upper part of this layer was a second 'shellbed' apparently forming an irregular lens with a maximum thickness of 0.66 m. The gravel was interpreted by Anderson as a beach deposit, and its base was estimated as ca.. 10.4 m above Liverpool OD (= ca. 11.0 m above Newlyn OD - Gray 1975b). The two 'shell-beds', which consisted primarily of the shells of various species of edible mollusc mixed with animal bones, human artifacts and patches of ash or charcoal, were interpreted as middens or refuse heaps relating to prehistoric human activity in the vicinity of the cave. The non-molluscan faunal remains include bones of red deer, roe deer, pig, otter, saithe and redbreasted merganser (Lacaille, 1954). The artifacts recovered from the midden deposits comprise a small number of flint tools and debitage and battered pebbles, together with a distinctive assemblage of antler and bone implements which include small splinters bevelled at one or both ends (sometimes referred to as 'limpet scoops'), pieces with carefully worked points (interpreted as 'pins' and 'awls'), and a series of flat, bilaterally-barbed harpoon- or spear-heads. Unlike MacArthur Cave which faced onto the open coast, Druimvargie Rockshelter, exposed when talus was cleared from the base of a NE-SW ridge, faced inland overlooking a flat, marshy area which at various times during the post-glacial was a shallow marine embayment. The floor of the rockshelter was at ca. 14 m above Liverpool OD, several metres higher than MacArthur Cave. Excavation of a midden deposit inside the rockshelter yielded a similar but smaller faunal assemblage comprising marine shells (mainly limpets, periwinkles, cockles and oysters), crab's claws, bones of red deer, pig and otter, and a few bones of fish and wildfowl (Anderson, 1898). In certain respects, the artifact assemblage from this midden resembles that recovered from MacArthur Cave. There are also significant differences; the barbed points have barbs on one side only and there is a fragment of an antler mattock, a type not recorded from MacAnhur Cave. Excavations in a series of open-air shell middens on the island of Oronsay between
1x74, and 1913 produced faunal material and artifacts similar to those from the Oban caves

(Grieve, 1885; Bishop, 1914). This prompted Anderson to observe: " I t is evident that these
three shell mounds in Oronsay and MucArthur and Druimvargie Caves at Obun belong to the sume urchueologicul horizon - a horizon which has not heretofore been observed in Scotland
( 1 1198, 3 13).

'I'hus the Oban and Oronsay sites were recognized as a distinct archaeological

Figure 4.3. 1)istribution nzap of major 'Obanian' sites in western Scotland. C C . Ctzoc Coig; CMB. Carding Mill Ray; CNG. Caisteal nan Gillean; CS. Cnoc Sligeach; U . Ilruinzvargie Hockshelter; M. MacArthur Cave; PM. Priory Midden; H . Haschoille Cave

culture within western Scotland, which Movius (1940) subsequently termed the 'Obanian Culture'. Also included under this label (Movius, 1940; Lacaille, 1954) were a number of other cave sites with shell middens that had been discovered around Oban Bay, the Distillery, Dunollie, Mackay and Gasworks caves (although these had not produced the same types of antler, bone and stone artifacts), and an open-air shell midden on the island of Risga in Loch Sunart from which typical 'Obanian' artifacts (bevel-ended tools, bilaterally-barbed points, and mattocks) were excavated in 1920 (Figure 4.3). Dating of the 'Obanian' Anderson (1898) assigned the shell middens in MacArthur Cave and Druimvargie Rockshelter to the Azilian, at that time considered to belong to the early Holocene, and most workers have since accepted a Mesolithic age for the Oban, Oronsay and Risga sites. Some authors (e.g. Clark, 1956; Jacobi, 1982), however, have suggested a date around the Mesolithic-Neolithictransition. There is now a series of conventional and AMS 14C determinations for shell middens containing 'Obanianl-type artifacts and for isolated finds.of such artifacts (Figure 4.4). The earliest dates are those for Druimvargie Rockshelter (7810 + 90 BP) and Ulva Cave (7800 + 160 BP, 7660 + 60 BP); the latest dates are for a recently excavated site at Carding Mill Bay, Oban, and range from 5060 + 50 BP to 4980 + 50 BP. The time-range indicated by these dates (ca.. 7800-5000 BP) overlaps substantially that of Mesolithic sites with microlithic assemblages (Momson & Bonsall, 1989; Bonsall & Smith, 1990), and to a lesser degree that of the earliest dated Neolithic sites. Bevel-ended tools occur throughout the time-range. Antler mattocks and barbed points have been found in sites dated between 7810 + 90 BP (Druimvargie) and 5426 + 159 BP (Cnoc Sligeach, Oronsay), but there is no evidence that these types remained in use after ca.. 5400 BP. Only Druimvargie Rockshelter, the earliest dated site, has produced unilaterally-barbed points; those sites with bilaterally-barbed points (MacArthur Cave, Risga and three sites on Oronsay, Caisteal nan Gillean I, Cnoc Coig and Cnoc Sligeach) all have dates after ca.. 6700 BP. It is also evident from Figure 4.4 that some sites were formed over long periods of time. At Ulva Cave, for example, midden accumulation occurred over at least 2000 rddiocarbon years. 'Obanian' sites and Holocene sea levels The results shown in Figure 4.4 are also significant in dating sea-level change. Studies of sea-level change in western Scotland have shown that during the early to middle Holocene a marine transgression occurred, culminating at some time between 6000 and 7000 BP. The shoreline that was formed at the maximum of the transgression has an altitude of ca.

Figure 4.4. Radiocarbon dates for shell midden sites with 'Obanian' artifacts in Scotland; the uncertainty ranges are expressed at two standard deviations (after Bonsall & Smith, 1989; Bonsall et aL, 1991; Connock et al., 1991)

13 m in the Oban area (Gray, 1972, 1974b). Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic evidence (the latter particularly in the Oban caves) indicates that the majority of known 'Obanian' sites post-date or are contemporaneous with the maximum of this marine transgression. Since the shell middens are likely to have been deposited in close proximity to the contemporaneous shoreline, it is highly probable that many 'Obanian' sites that predate the maximum of the transgression would have been destroyed during that event. This would be virtually certain in the Oban caves that were invaded by the sea at this period. In this context the result from Druimvargie Rockshelter is particularly significant. The floor of the rockshelter is at approximately 14.6 m above Newlyn OD, and the floor material was interstratified with talus on its outer margin. The date of 7810 + 90 BP from the 'Obanian' material in these sediments indicates that evidence of early occupation of this site was preserved due to the build-up of material to above the maximum sea-level altitude in the middle Holocene. The 'Obanian' occupation occurred prior to the maximum of the transgression and would have been preserved in sites above the maximum altitude attained by the sea. The results are also significant in placing limits on the age of the transgression maximum and the subsequent fall in sea level. The stratigraphy from MacArthur Cave shows the upper part of the beach gravels as being interstratified with the lower of the two midden deposits. The single determination from this site is on a barbed point recovered from one of the midden deposits (its exact position is unknown). It would appear, however, closely to post-date the maximum of the marine transgression in the Oban area. The date of 6700 + 80 BP can be compared to that of ca.. 6800 BP (Sissons, 1983) for the upper Forth Valley, an area where glacieisostatic uplift has been of similar magnitude to the Oban area.

Later prehistoric use of the Oban caves

Archaeological remains have been recorded so far in 12 caves around Oban Bay. These include three sites, Carding Mill Bay I & I1 (NM 847 294) and Raschoille Cave (NM 855 289), discovered during building work in the 1980s. Whereas only Carding Mill Bay I, Dmimvargie Rockshelter, MacArthur Cave and Raschoille Cave have produced material that can be described as 'Obanian', from all but one of the sites human bones have been recovered. No radiocarbon determinations are available for these finds and their dating is problematical. In MacArthur Cave the human remains were found resting on and embedded in a layer of 'black earth' overlying the upper midden, while at Carding Mill Bay I and I1 (and possibly the Gasworks Cave) they were associated with sherds of Bronze Age pottery; at the Carding Mill Bay sites and in Dunollie Cave the deposits occurred below the maximum altitude reached by the sea during the middle Holocene. These lines of evidence suggest

use of the caves as burial sites after the Mesolithic, and it seems likely that they served as ossuaries rather than places of primary interment. The only site lacking human remains (or and other evidence of post-Mesolithic activity) is Druimvargie ~ockshelter, it is possible that the entrance to this cave was sealed by talus during the Mesolithic.

4.3.

GALLANACH BEG, OBAN

A. N . Rhodes, B.T. Rumsby and M.G. Macklin

Archaeological, geomorphological and palaeoenvironmental investigations of Holocene environmental change in the Oban region, associated with the Oban Archaeological Project (funded by Historic Scotland), have recently been initiated by the Department of Archaeology, University of Edinburgh and Department of Geography, University of Newcastle. Initial palaeoenvironmental work has focussed on Gallanach Beg (NM 839 277; 45m OD), a small freshwater loch located at the head of Gleann Sheileach, south-west of Oban, where a detailed Holocene vegetation and erosion history is being reconstructed. The basin appears to have been produced by erosion and infilled with alluvium and peat during the Holocene. A site close to the centre of the basin, ca.. 10 m from the present limit of open water, was cored using a 5 cm Russian auger to a depth of 12.5 m (the total thickness of Holocene and earlier sediments in Gallanach Beg is unknown at present). Two major stratigraphic units were identified: 1. homogenous, well-humified peaty material between 12.5-5.0 m; and 2. stratified, less-humified herbaceous peat above 5.0 m. Sub-samples were taken at 8 cm intervals for geochemical and organic content determinations, and approximately 30 cm intervals for preliminary pollen analysis. Heavy mineral and cation concentrations were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (airlacetylene flame) following digestion by nitric acid. Organic content was estimated from the percentage loss in weight after ignition at 4500C for 24 hours. Samples for pollen analysis were prepared using standard techniques (Moore &Webb 1978); sums of 400 total or 200 lirboreal pollen grains were counted for most levels, the sediments being relatively polleniferous and the pollen reasonably well preserved. Preliminary geochemistry and pollen diagrams m shown in Figures 4.5 and 4.6. Four 1 4 dates, obtained from bulk peat samples from depths of 40-50 cm. 390-4x1 ~ cm, 785-800 cm and 990-1000 cm provide ages (expressed as ranges at the 2 sigma level) of 0-320, 1300-1520, 3989-4299 and 7449-8039 cal years BP respectively (GU 3025-3027 and 3037). While the pollen evidence confirms the upper three dates, it contradicts the date of 7449-8039 years BP at ca. 10 m depth. High A1nu.s and Ulrrlics values below I 1 m dcpth