Sprouston dig hunts Scotland’s 6,000-year-old farming origins

The Neolithic period began in what is modern-day Scotland about 6,000 years ago, with farming communities arriving from continental Europe and replacing the hunter-gatherer way of life.

As well as creating farming communities by introducing domesticated crops, they brought livestock to their new surroundings and began constructing permanent homes and enclosures.

While many other buildings dating from the Neolithic period have been identified and excavated across Scotland, the discovery of a causeway-accessed enclosure would lead to a rethink over Stone Age farming advancements and people distribution.

Cathy MacIver told the BBC that the main feature they were investigating is a segmented enclosure ditch.

She said: “It’s been proposed to be an early Neolithic causewayed enclosure – you get loads of them down south, but if this is proved to be early Neolithic then it would be the most northerly example yet.

“We know we have early Neolithic activity across Scotland with early farmers moving into the area and clearing areas of woodland.

“What this would add is an understanding that these causeway enclosures aren’t something that’s really limited to the south and that the same practices were also coming north over time.”