In The Beginning.....
Prehistory (before there were any written records) is divided by archaeologists into Ages, named originally after the materials which people used for tools. These Ages begin and end at different times in different places, depending on when people adopted new technologies; they are also associated with different ways of life, and changes in land forms and climatic conditions. Dates are obviously not exact, and there is often considerable overlap between succeeding Ages.
Mesolithic c. 10000 – 4500 BC
(Middle Stone Age)
The first people may have come to Strathglass about 10,000 years ago. At this time Britain was still joined to the continent and groups of people spread north and west through Europe, as the Ice Age ended and the climate became warmer.
People lived by hunting animals, catching fish and gathering wild crops and fruit. They moved around, following the various food sources through the seasons. Their typical stone tools were microliths – very small flints – which were used for arrow-heads, knives and scrapers.
They also used wood, bone, horn and antler, which have not survived so well. No signs of Mesolithic occupation have been found in Strathglass yet, but the nearest are not far away, on the coast of the Beauly Firth near Tarradale.