St Kilda, Scotland: Difference between revisions

It has been known for some time that St Kilda was continuously inhabited for two millennia or more, from the [[Bronze Age]] to the 20th century.<ref>[http://www.kilda.org.uk/StKildaCultHerExtractFINALB38477.pdf St Kilda: Revised Nomination of St Kilda for inclusion in the World Heritage Site List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703131509/http://www.kilda.org.uk/StKildaCultHerExtractFINALB38477.pdf |date=3 July 2007 }} (January 2003) (pdf) National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 21 March 2007.</ref> In 2015, the first direct evidence of earlier [[Neolithic]] settlement emerged, [[potsherd|sherds of pottery]] of the Hebridean ware style, found to the east of the village. The subsequent discovery of a quarry for stone tools on Mullach Sgar above Village Bay led to finds of numerous stone hoe-blades, grinders and Skaill knives{{refn|A flaked stone with a sharp edge used for cutting. This neolithic tool is named after [[Skaill Bay]], the location of World Heritage Site [[Skara Brae]] in Orkney.<ref>[http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-103-335-C "Skaill knife"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227193131/http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-103-335-C |date=27 February 2015 }} National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 27 February 2015.</ref>|group="note"}} in the Village Bay ''cleitean'', unique stone storage buildings (see below). These tools are also probably of Neolithic origin.<ref>Fleming (2005) pages 37–56.</ref>

The [[potsherd]]spotsherds appear to have been made of local material, rather than material brought from other islands in the Hebrides, suggesting that the islands were settled in the [[4th millennium BC]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Copper|first=Michael|date=March 2017|title=Neolithic sherds from St Kilda|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/saj.2017.0079|journal=Scottish Archaeological Journal|volume=39|issue=1|pages=95–100|doi=10.3366/saj.2017.0079|issn=1471-5767}}</ref> Iron Age pottery is also known. Archaeologist Alan Hunter Blair reported that "the eastern end of Village Bay on St Kilda was occupied fairly intensively during the Iron Age period, although no house structures were found".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-55995799 |title=Evidence St Kilda was inhabited 2,000 years ago |date=9 February 2021 |work=BBC News |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote="These few clues tell us that people were well established on St Kilda as part of the wider settlement of the Western Isles." |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209132408/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-55995799 |url-status=live }}</ref>