Who Were Scotland’s First Famers?

News June 3, 2019

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ABERDEENSHIRE, SCOTLAND—The Herald Scotland reports that pottery made in the carinated bowl tradition has been unearthed at Kirkton of Fetteresso, a site located near eastern Scotland’s Stonehaven Bay, and dated to between 3952 and 3766 B.C. The presence of the pottery at the site, which was occupied for at least 4,500 years, means that farming was practiced in the region more than 100 years earlier than had been thought, according to Robert Lenfert of Cameron Archaeology and his colleagues. There are only two other sites in Britain with pottery of similar style and age, and both are in the northeast as well, Lenfert explained. The researchers suggest that early farmers may have traveled directly to the region from mainland Europe by boat, rather than following major rivers, as had been previously suggested. For more, go to “Letter from Scotland: Living on the Edge.”

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