Ancient island life on North Uist left children starving and villages covered in sand due to devastating storms, new research has revealed.
Excavations at the Udal on the Outer Hebridean island have uncovered some of the hardships islanders faced during Neolithic and early Bronze Age Scotland.
Analysis of two skeletons discovered at the site indicates they suffered a lack of food as children, including periods of starvation.
While archaeologists also believe two round buildings discovered at the Udal may have been the last surviving structures of a large settlement that was covered over by a thick layer of sand, similar to Skara Brae on Orkney.
Read more: Skara Brae a 'sacred sauna' not a village, former head of Glasgow Museums claims
Beverley Ballin Smith, of GUARD Archaeology, who has been leading the post-excavation work, said: “The storm that brought the sand covered fields and grazing lands in addition to the village, from dunes to the west.
“The effects were so severe that the buildings and the farming land had to be abandoned and people moved inland.”
The research, published in a new book, reveals that islanders were then hit by further storms, with one bringing a flood so severe that it destroyed their new fields and spread a thick stone and shingle beach across them.
The devastating weather damaged crops and killed animals, impacting on the health of residents, as shown in the two skeletons which were discovered in a burial cairn.
Ms Ballin Smith added: “Our Neolithic and Bronze Age ancestors lived through climate change events such as dramatic sea-level rise and increased storminess, and trauma such as loss of fields, crops and animals.
“They had to relocate their settlement and houses to safer areas.”
Read more: More archaeologists 'desperately needed' to avoid construction delays on major projects
The book, entitled Life on the Edge: The Neolithic and Bronze Age of Iain Crawford’s Udal, North Uist, is the result of several years of post-excavation work on the smallest of the Udal sites, which was exposed by coastal erosion after an exceptionally high tide in 1974.
The late archaeologist Iain Crawford spent many years at the site but was unable to complete his work due to illness. The new book is edited by Ms Ballin Smith who has spent years analysing his excavations.
Malcolm Burr, Chief Executive of Western Isles Council, said: “While the archaeology of the Western Isles is as rich, diverse and intriguing as that of the rest of Scotland, it is less well known.
“Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and its partners are working hard to see this position change.
“The excavations at the Udal recovered fragile evidence in the face of erosion by sea, storm and the ravages of time.
“The story told by these structures and artefacts reflects the earliest centuries of communities’ life experiences on the Udal headland from some six thousand years ago, one of the longest and most fascinating time lines in the archaeology of Scotland.”
The new book is available from Archaeopress Publishing Ltd for £25. A free version is also available to download at www.archaeology.press.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel