Sand is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

site on the Applecross Peninsula in

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Sand is the site of a major archaeological excavation on the Inner Sound coast of the

Applecross Applecross ( , 'The Sanctuary', historically anglicized as 'Combrich') is a peninsula in Wester Ross, in the Scottish Highlands. It is bounded by Loch Kishorn to the south, Loch Torridon to the north, and Glen Shieldaig to the east. On its wes ...

Peninsula in Western

, to the north of the small town of Applecross. A small number of shell

midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

s were known as rare traces of

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

settlement when a rock shelter and shell midden at Sand, Applecross on the coast of

, was selected for detailed excavation as part of a study of shell middens in the area around the ''Inner Sound'' between the

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

and the mainland. The ''Scotland’s First Settlers'' project (SFS) investigating the relationship of early inhabitants with the western seaboard chose this area which had known sites at An Corran in

Staffin Staffin () is a township with the Gaelic name ''An Taobh Sear'', which translates as "the East Side", on the northeast coast of the Trotternish peninsula on the Isle of Skye. It is located on the A855 road about north of Portree and is over ...

, and at Redpoint and

Shieldaig Shieldaig (; )W. J. Watson''Place-names of Ross and Cromarty'' 1904, p. 208. is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands, in the Scottish council area of Highland. Geography and history The village was founded in 1800 with a vie ...

Torridon Torridon () is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torridon. The village lies on the shore of Loch ...

. Their surveys in 1999 and 2000 found 104 previously unknown sites, mostly caves and rock shelters with 21 " lithic scatters" and 9 open

shell middens A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupat ...

. A proportion of these sites will be more recent, but test pits at 4 sites found ''Loch a Sguirr'' on

Raasay Raasay (; ), sometimes the Isle of Raasay, is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound, Scotland, Inner Sound. It is famous fo ...

and ''Sand'' in ''Applecross'' to be

. The indication is that there are many more surviving sites than had been expected. The rock shelter site at Sand on the Applecross peninsula, just to the north of Applecross itself, faces out across the Inner Sound westwards towards

and

. Around 7,500 years BCE the first users of the rock shelter had worked antler and stone to make tools. As well as using local stone for their tools they had obtained distinctive stone from the island of

Rùm Rùm (), a Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic name often Anglicisation, anglicised to Rum ( ), is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, in the district of Lochaber. For much of the 20th century the ...

, to the south, and Staffin on Skye, to the west, showing that they were able to cross open sea. Gradually a large pile of shells, mainly limpets, built up into a large midden. Abundant fragments of stone "pot-boilers" and bevel ended bone tools indicate that the shellfish were being cooked and the contents scooped out. There were also bones from

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

and birds and an antler harpoon for catching a wide range of fish, including

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the Monotypy, monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Oce ...

, herring and salmon. Fine beads had been made from

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by Mollusca, mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters ...

s, while

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

pigment and a particular species of dog whelk that may have been used for the extraction of purple dye suggest concern with decoration.

Naval base

There is a British Naval Base at Sand that monitors underwater activity around this part of the west coast. The BUTEC establishment tests marine weapons. Submarines can often be seen in the waters between Applecross Peninsula and

References

External links

History Scotland Magazine: First Settlers

Scotsman.com Heritage and History

Walking in Applecross - free guide

Applecross Walks, Wester Ross
{{Scotland-stub Populated places established in the 8th millennium BC Archaeological sites in Highland (council area) History of the Scottish Highlands Former populated places in Scotland Ross and Cromarty