Mesolithic and Early Neolithic activity along the Dee: excavations at Garthdee Road, Aberdeen

Abstract

Excavation on a gravel ridge beside the River Dee in Aberdeen revealed a small ovoid building of
 early Neolithic date. Not only does this add to the very small corpus of early Neolithic buildings yet
 excavated in Scotland, but the survival of floors and hearths also allows some analysis of functions
 within the building. The structural, artefactual and radiocarbon evidence suggest that this was
 a permanent building in use over at least a generation, in contrast to some interpretations of such
 buildings as temporary shelters. The artefactual and environmental data demonstrate considerable
 cultural and economic similarities between the occupants of this small building and of the two massive
 early Neolithic timber halls only a few kilometers away at Balbridie and Warren Field, Crathes.
 Radiocarbon analysis shows that, although the two halls were built earlier, the Garthdee building may
 have coexisted with them – emphasizing the varied and complex development of the early Neolithic of
 eastern Scotland. There is also some evidence to suggest that, although their re-use of an earlier site
 may have been coincidental, the Neolithic occupants may have been aware of some features of the
 earlier, Mesolithic, use of the site.