PREHISTORIC TIMES 

Neolithic

Bronze Age

The Iron Age and the Celts 

Mesolithic 

The earliest traces of human settlement in Ayrshire date from the Mesolithic period (c. 8000 BC - 4000 BC). There may have been humans in the earlier Paleolithic period but any traces will have been long destroyed by glaciation and rising sea levels. 

With the ending of the ice age, climatic conditions improved sufficiently to encourage incursions by small groups of hunters. By the time they arrived the tundra-like conditions had given way to extensive woodland with areas of shrubland and more open areas, especially on the high ground. In Ayrshire there would have been extensive areas of marsh surrounding numerous lochs, hinted at nowadays by the flat areas where they have been drained. 

The mesolithic people were hunter/gatherers and would have been on the move for long periods of time with hunting camps in the summer in inland areas and winter camps on the coast. These environments provided them with everything they needed for tools, shelter and food. The following of game trails was undoubtedly very important. Christopher Taylor in Roads and Tracks of Britain refers to work that suggests that wild cattle regularly migrated from the uplands of southern Scotland to the Solway Firth area. (1)

Fortunately the mesolithic people have left evidence of their presence in the form of lithic scatter sites where numerous stone chippings were left as they made tools and hunting weapons, as well as remains of camps. The finds are sufficiently numerous to give a fairly good idea of their movements as they entered the area. While much of this movement would have been on foot, dug-out canoes and skin-covered craft would also have been used, as witness the canoe found at Loch Doon.

In a regional context, mesolithic finds have been made along the Solway and Ayrshire coasts with significant clusters in the Loch Doon and Carsphairn areas as well as near Muirkirk and around Biggar in Lanarkshire. Papers by Morrison and Hughes (2) and Morrison and Hendry (3) give an overview of Ayrshire at this time. There are also large numbers of sites on the coast of Antrim, along the River Bann and around Loch Carlingford.

On the Solway coast, there are clusters of finds near Southerness, south of Dumfries; near Whithorn and Port William; and at the north end of Glenluce Bay and the eastern coast of the Mull of Galloway. There have also been isolated finds near the River Annan for some 15 miles of its course.

Inland, there are sites at Loch Grannoch and the Clatteringshaws Loch area and a large number of sites on the shores of Loch Doon. Further east, there have been large numbers of finds along the Water of Ken from near St John's Town of Dalry up towards Craignegilian Bridge.

In Ayrshire itself, there are sites near Girvan, then regularly spaced finds along the coast with clusters near Prestwick, Troon and Shewalton (near Irvine), and some near Hunterston.

These finds invite speculation as to routes the early Mesolithic settlers might have followed in their incursions into Scotland but as Wickham-Jones (4) shows, there are considerable difficulties in reaching firm conclusions about this. Having said that, one is on firm enough ground to postulate more localised movements. The most obvious is movement along the coast although it has to be noted that sites are of two types: an early phase where the sea level was higher and sites are found on the old cliff tops (good examples of these cliffs can be seen near Girvan); and a later phase, often in sand dunes, after the sea level had fallen.

It is noteworthy that there is only one site south of Girvan, at Ballantrae, which probably reflects the nature of the coastline here. Near Girvan the cluster of finds indicates the varied habitats that could be exploited by them in this area which may also be true of the Prestwick/Troon/Shewalton area.

The spacing of the inland sites in the Galloway Hills has led Edwards et al in an article on mesolithic sites in the southwest (5) to suggest the use of the nw/se trending river systems for travel between the Solway coast and Ayrshire. One route would have run from Kirkcudbright Bay northwards along the River Dee past Castle Douglas and then the Water of Ken which goes up to New Galloway and St John's Town of Dalry. Six miles north of Dalry it would have followed the Water of Deugh and Carsphairn Lane to Loch Doon.

Another route would be along the Big Water of Fleet to Loch Grannoch then up through the area of Clatteringshaws Loch (a modern hydro-electric development) where it would have travelled west for a few miles on the course of the Black Water of Dee and then north to Cooran Lane and Gala Lane and so to Loch Doon. From Loch Doon there could have been a relatively easy link to the Ayrshire coast by the River Doon or a more difficult course by the Water of Girvan.

The authors note that further evidence may suggest other routes from the Solway to the interior by major rivers like the Cree, Urr and Nith and that transverse routes between the above two routes would have been possible. The cluster of finds on the headwaters of the Water of Ken (south-east of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn) could suggest an easy route to the Nith Valley but there is no evidence to confirm this.

The finds between Muirkirk and Strathaven may imply movement from the coast and perhaps towards the Biggar area but this is not certain.

Neolithic 

This period extends from about 4000 BC to 2500 BC. It is characterised by increasingly permanent settlements where the land had been cleared for farming and for keeping domesticated livestock. New forms of flint and stone tools appeared, as did pottery. In addition, new types of tombs were built, and henges and stone circles appeared for the first time. 

It is generally thought that neolithic people were newcomers, although where they came from and if they were of the same origins as the mesolithic people is still to be determined. Both groups seem to have co-existed peacefully. Some hunter-gatherer groups continued to exist but were gradually assimilated into the new life style. 

With the development of settled communities, the conditions for definite trackways were established. Unfortunately, as far as Ayrshire is concerned we are not certain where these settlements were. However, there must be a presumption that they were linked to the chambered cairns of which eight are known from Ayrshire. These are at Largs, Beith, Galston, Baing Loch near Straiton, Barr (2) and Ballantrae (2). These major funerary monuments were communal graves and are thought to have been situated on the periphery of their territory. It is noticeable how many are on high ground and in remote areas. No doubt to them there was a numinous quality to these graves and it could well be that being in the realm of the Dead, journeys to them were undertaken only when someone had died and that the area beyond was avoided. If this was the case then the settlements were likely to have been in the low lying areas of Ayrshire with each chambered cairn associated with a distinct group. In the settled areas there would have been short paths to cultivated land and livestock as well as to neighbouring settlements. In addition, there must have been tracks to burial sites and to henges and circles. 

Recently, Campbell has suggested that groups of neolithic cairns may indicate tribal territories. (6) There is a clear group of this sort to the east of Ballantrae and running south into Glenapp. Other groups are near Dalmellington and Muirkirk. With the exception of Muirkirk these conform quite well with the locations of chambered tombs. 

As these seem to have been peacable times, there may have been long-distance routes. Certainly the presence of axe-heads from Northern Ireland and from the Lake District indicates trading links with these centres. 

Bronze Age 

Around 2500 BC, there was an influx of people who were culturally different from the neolithic population. These are known as the Beaker People from their distinctive pottery, and the age is known as the Bronze Age because they were capable of working this metal.

They seem to have co-existed peacefully with those already settled in the area, establishing themselves on the periphery of existing settlement zones. From about 2000 BC, the climate gradually deteriorated and farming became more difficult. Around 1200 BC, there was a marked decline in population, possibly associated with the eruptions of Hekla in Iceland in 1159 BC which are thought to have had a severe effect on the climate. After this time weapons were more in evidence and were of a more sophisticated type. With peat encroaching on formerly cultivated land there may have been an emphasis on raising livestock and perhaps raids on herds. 

Trade routes to Ireland and Cornwall can be inferred, as Irish copper was used extensively, and Cornwall was the only source of tin - both metals being needed for the production of bronze. It was also a feature of their society that itinerant metalworkers travelled from place to place and made items on the spot. A find at Peel Farm near Drumclog in the upper Avon valley appears to be metal prepared for resmelting.

Two separate studies by Morrison show bronze age finds. (7,8) There are a large number of sites near the coast from the Irvine area up to Largs, and given the geography it is easy to imagine a route up the coast. There are also a fair number of sites around Muirkirk suggesting significant local movement. The same would apply to clusters in the Cumnock/Ochiltree area and that near Waterhead Farm halfway between New Cumnock and Dalmellington. There is another cluster between Maybole and the coast with some sites just south in the valley of the Girvan. 

The large number of finds gives the impression of a fairly well populated countryside with implied movement, but we have to be cautious as the Bronze Age covers a period of about 1500 years. We also have to be careful not to assume that areas where there are no finds were not populated. Finds are more frequent in present day urban and farming areas because of building excavations and ploughing. 

It is perhaps worth remembering that people in the late Neolithic and Bronze ages may have seen roads very differently from us. No doubt there were tracks originating in the hunting and farming activities of these people but some may have had a ritual significance which is now lost to us. 

The Iron Age and the Celts

Celtic languages fall into two major classes, known as P-Celtic and Q-Celtic. This is based on their treatment of the early Indo-European qu sound, one group retaining it, the other changing it to a p. (9) Examples of P-Celtic languages are Gaulish, Old British or Brythonic (now Welsh), Cornish and Breton. The Q group is represented by Irish, Scottish and Manx Gaelic. The distinction affords an easy way of talking about the arrival and spread of the Celts in the British Isles.

The traditional view was that there were two major phases of invasion: the first was of Q-speaking Celts about 1000-900 BC, displacing or assimilating the Bronze Age peoples; the second of P-Celtic speakers around 400 BC, who themselves displaced Q-Celts over to Ireland. 

A variant of the theory suggests that there were remnants of Q-Celts on the western edges of Britain who adopted the later P-Celtic Brythonic language. Rhys (10) suggests this may have been the case with the Damnonii (who we know from Ptolemy were in Ayrshire); i.e. that they were Q-Celts who remained in Ayrshire rather than move to Ireland but changed their language to P-Celtic Brythonic. Moreover, he suggests that the Novantae and Selgovae (to the south and east of Ayrshire respectively) may have been the remnants of Bronze Age peoples. Certainly there are hints of the distinctiveness of the Novantae - they may have been the Attecotti of Roman times, a name meaning old or ancient; and Bede refers to them as the Niduarian Picts, an indication itself that they were not Brythons. As an aside, there is an interesting theory that suggests that the Damnonii were the same as the Dumnonii of SW England and that there was a mass emigration to this area. If correct, this would entail coastal landings and movement inland, perhaps just prior to the Agricolan campaign if they were fleeing from Roman advances in south-west England.

The other theory is that the Bronze Age people were early Celts, speaking Q-Celtic and that there were no further immigrations until the P-Celts or Brythons arrived about 400 BC. One reason is that the Beaker people had characteristics of a warrior society similar to the Celts. Another is that the urnfields, of which there are examples in Ayrshire, are equated by many archaeologists with the Celts. Finally, seeing the use of iron as a technological development within the one society dissolves the traditional association of the Bronze Age with the Beaker people and the Iron Age with the Celts. 

Unfortunately, none of these theories is of much help in deciding what routes there were in the period beyond saying that they no doubt used existing Bronze Age trackways and developed their own. 

Nor is Ptolemy of much help, pointing at most to one or two possible routes. His map of c.140 AD shows the Damnonii in the north and central parts of Ayrshire as well as further north and the Novantae in Galloway and perhaps Carrick. The Selgovae were to the east. His map is thought to incorporate intelligence gathered during the Agricolan campaign of 79-83 AD. His placing of Vindogara as a tribal centre - Ptolemy lists six for the Damnonii - is important as it would give a focal point for routes. It is generally thought to be near Irvine but Watson (11) places it nearer Girvan. The Irvine location is attractive because it was clearly well-populated at the time and through Dundonald had connections with Aeron of the Dark Ages. Another plausible theory is that Walls Hill, a large fort in the Beith Hills, was a tribal centre. It is worth noting that Damnonian territory stretched from Ayrshire well into present day Dumbartonshire. Later evidence suggests that there was a route in the Dark Ages and in mediaeval times from Ayrshire up to Dunbarton Rock. It is quite possible that it developed in this period.

The Novantian centres were Rerigonium and Lucopibia, thought to be Stranraer and Glenlochar, just above Castle Douglas. If we assume contact with the Damnonii, these two places are on important later routes to the north, viz. the coastal route and the route up the Glenkens to Dalmellington and beyond.

The only other evidence is archaeological. A recent study by Hendry (12) provides an overview of research undertaken since the pioneering work of John Smith. He also lists and maps sites of known or possible iron age occupation in three categories: 58 fortified sites of which 30 are forts, 18 are duns, and 10 are crannogs; 44 unfortified sites, mostly hut circles and homesteads; and 129 sites with limited fortification, mostly enclosures. Forts are fairly large, a typical dimension would be 80 metres at its longest and 40 metres at its widest. Duns are smaller, perhaps 20 -30 metres across and often circular. Crannogs were built on wooden piles sunk into the bed of a loch on which an artificial island and dwelling would be built. The single broch, at Craigie, is one of only a few in the south of Scotland in contrast to the north where there are hundreds. Although hardly to be seen today its distinctive cooling tower shape, 30 or 40 feet in height, must have been an impressive sight at the time.

The distribution of fortified sites shows that high ground was often favoured with clusters in the Carrick Hills and on the south side of the Water of Girvan; the Craigie Hills and the hills just west of Dundonald; and the hills running north from Ardrossan and Saltcoats. There are however more low-lying clusters near the Doon as it approaches the coast, and near the coast north west of Kilwinning. There are hardly any sites of this type south of the Water of Girvan and between the rivers Doon and Ayr.

The location of the unfortified sites corresponds quite well with the first category north of the Irvine with a number of sites and also between the Doon and Ayr in that there are no sites. There are, however, hardly any sites between the Ayr and Irvine whereas there were fortified sites on the hills near Craigie and Dundonald.

There are no sites in the Carrick Hills unlike the first category but numerous sites near Girvan, Ballantrae and Barrhill where there were no fortified sites.

The sites with limited fortifiction correspond well with the first two types north of Kilwinning but with a distict cluster to the east of Kilwinning, north of the River Irvine. Between the Irvine and Ayr there are a number of sites near the fortified sites of the hills near Craigie and Dundonald but with more sites extending eastward unlike the other two categories. There is a small cluster near Muirkirk.

Between the Ayr and the Doon there are a scatter of sites including a cluster east of Cumnock, wereas there were no sites in this area in the other categories.

South of the Doon there are a number of sites inland from the mouth of the Doon and in the Carrick Hills, like the fortified sites and unlike the unfortified sites. Near Girvan there are sites, like the other two categories. Like the unfortified category there are sites near Ballantrae and Barrhill with a significant number in the Stinchar valley.

It will be seen that there are considerable difficulties in using the above sources of evidence to identify trackways in this period. One problem is that without detailed dating evidence we cannot assume all these sites are contemporaneous - the Iron Age as a period covers at least 1000 years. Again, depending on which theory about the Celts you choose, some forts could have been, for example, strongholds of the Bronze Age peoples defending against Celts, or of Q-Celts defending against invading P-Celts. Were the forts intended for defence against raids by groupings within the same tribal group or against raids by another group? Was the boundary between the Novantae and Damnonii at the River Doon or the River Irvine - the sites near the mouth of the Doon and at Craigie Hill and Dundonald could fit either.

These questions mean that until further research throws light on the matter, we can only postulate one or two long distance routes and indicate areas where there would have been local tracks.

In summary then, there could have been a Damnonian route up to the centre of their territory, perhaps at Dumbarton; and Novantian routes by the coast and up the Glenkens.The distribution of sites suggests a considerable network in almost all parts of Ayrshire although less extensive in the east of the area and the area between the Doon and the Ayr. On this basis, local tracks can be postulated for the following areas, with a remaining uncertainty as to more long distance routes:

Noddsdale Water
West Kilbride
Dalry
Kilbirnie
Kilwinning
Loudoun Hill
Dundonald
Craigie
Muirkirk
Guelt Water
Alloway
Dalrymple
Carrick Hills
Girvan
Ballantrae
Sinchar Valley
Barrhill.

Although the Iron Age continued beyond the arrival of the Romans, it is traditional to treat this as a separate period. When the Romans invaded the west of Scotland they no doubt travelled by existing tracks and it is just possible, as was certainly the case in other parts of Britain, that they were incorporated into the Roman road network. That, however, is by no means certain, as we shall see in the next chapter.

1. Christopher Taylor in Roads and Tracks of Britain, Orion, London, 1994, page 2 
2. A Morrison and I Hughes, The Stone Ages in Ayrshire, AANHS, 1989 
3. Papers by A Morrison and Alastair Hendry in John Smith of Dalry, Ayrshire Monographs No.17, AANHS, 1996
4. C.R.Wickham-Jones, Scotland's First Settlers, Batsford/Historic Scotland, London, 1994, chapter 5
5. Edwards et al, New Mesolithic Sites in South West Scotland, DGNHAS, 1983 
6. Thorbjorn Campbell, Ayrshire, A Historical Guide, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2003, chap. 1 
7. A Morrison, The Bronze Age in Ayrshire, AANHS, 1978 
8. A Morrison, John Smith and the Earlier Prehistory of Ayrshire in John Smith of Dalry, Ayrshire Monographs No.17, AANHS, 1996
9. W.J.Watson, The History of the Celtic Placenames of Scotland, Birlinn, Edinburgh 1993, page 2 
10. Rhys, Celtic Britain, Random House, London 1996
11. W.J. Watson, op.cit., page 32
12. Alastair Hendry, The Iron Age in Ayrshire (c.500 BD - 500 AD): An Update, in John Smith of Dalry, Ayrshire Monographs No.17, AANHS, 1996