The environmental evidence, predominantly in the form of land molluscs, indicated the clearance of substantial tracts of woodland, perhaps specifically to promote grazing. The substantial faunal assemblage included sheep and cattle but also had fairly high proportions of red deer and abundant wild resources including cetaceans, shellfish and birds. Todays Western society often views the Hebrides (and similar places) as peripheral, offering little enticement to people to settle in the area. During the Neolithic and Bronze Age this was clearly not the case. Most settlements were on the coast and the abundance of natural resources in the Hebrides was ideal for the people of those times.
Furthermore it is common to assume that places like the Hebrides were behind in their social development. Amongst the artifact found at Northton was a small splash of arsenical bronze from the beaker period which is perfectly in tune with development elsewhere during that period. The raw materials for the manufacture of bronze where not readily available in the Hebrides so we could possibly assume that travel to and from the islands was common with possible trade routes existed. Comparing the islands development to that of the mainland can be problematic. To classify the people who lived in Northton during the Bronze age as Beaker Folk is slightly misleading. The remnants of pottery found at Northton were typical of Hebridean pottery of the period. The Hebridean Pottery was a wide and varied mix of styles.
Older structures were often adopted for use by more recent societies. The Beaker cist in Northton was found to contain 2 bodies (disarticulated male inhumations) which were found to be of Iron Age date! Radiocarbon dating can help establish the age of an item, organic or inorganic but it is not a method of time travel - we have to interpret the information as best we can and mistakes can easily be made - everything at best is an approximation of what may have been. More details of the early history of the islands can be found on the Virtual Hebrides which includes a little on beaker folk (click here).
