NOSAS AGM and Talk: Steve Birch on the Mesolithic at Tarradale
06 November 2025 19:00
The NOSAS AGM at 7 pm will be followed by a talk given by archaeologist Steve Birch from approximately 7.30. A discussion will follow. We have a new venue for the season's meetings - St Ninian's Church Hall in Culduthel Road, Inverness. This link will allow Google Maps to get you there.
Between Land and Sea: Exploring the Evidence for Mesolithic Activity at Tarradale, Muir of Ord
Shell middens have always loomed large in the study of Mesolithic Europe and have exerted a powerful influence on perceptions of coastal habitation; so much so, that midden sites have been considered a defining characteristic of the Scottish Mesolithic, often viewed as a part of a mobile life-cycle. Yet they are rare in the Scottish Mesolithic, with most midden sites associated with former sea caves and rock shelters. Existing midden sites display little consistency in size and content and while some have produced evidence for internal structures, some appear to result solely from specialised activities. The rich organic preservation, as found within middens, has ensured that these types of site have been well studied in the past. Nevertheless, research has tended to group them together as if they represent a uniform phenomenon, despite the fact that in many cases all that they share in common is the presence of marine shells within a coastal location.
The shell middens that have been investigated to-date have shown variations in the shells and other food remains they contain, while there is also considerable variation in their artefactual component. Excavations at some sites have also shown the importance of looking beyond the middens, especially around their periphery, where specific activity areas have been identified; indicating that midden data are essentially incomplete until the adjacent non-midden areas have been investigated. The investigation of shell midden sites also have an important role to play in our understanding of the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition, with the potential to build new narratives that describe and explain what happened in Scotland from the first appearance of new life ways, at some time between 4300 BC and 4000 BC.
The Mesolithic shell middens identified at Tarradale have the capacity to fill a significant void in our knowledge, understanding and distribution of this site type in Scotland. Trench 2B in particular, located to the east of Tarradale House, has produced a nationally significant range of antler artefacts, along with contemporaty features, some of which may relate to temporary structures. This presentation will focus on the excavations carried out at site 2B in 2017 and 2023, will explore the potential of the site through the recovered artefacts and materials, and place the site within a wider Scottish context. It is hoped that the presentation will stimulate a discussion regarding the Tarradale sites, explore the potential to be revealed through post-excavation analysis of the recovered materials, including the questions we would like to answer.
Steven Birch is a Highlands-based archaeological contractor, with his business, West Coast Archaeological Services (WCAS), established in January 1998. WCAS provides contract archaeology services to a wide variety of public sectors, including construction, engineering, utilities and especially forestry, as well as private individuals and community groups throughout the Highlands & Islands, and other areas of Scotland. We also provide consultancy services, which includes desk-based assessments and research for heritage projects. We specialise in the archaeological survey of upland landscapes, much of which has been associated with woodland creation and peatland restoration schemes.
Steven graduated with an MA in Scottish Archaeology from the University of Aberdeen in 2005 and posts have included being a member of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (2006 to 2008) and the Scottish Archaeological Research Frameworks (ScARF), sitting on the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Panel (2009 to 2010). Between 1999 and 2005, Steven took part in the Scotland's First Settlers Project, directed by Karen Hardy and the late Caroline Wickham-Jones, which investigated sites relating to the earliest settlement focused on the Inner Sound, located between the east coast of Skye and the adjacent Mainland, and including offshore islands. Excavated Mesolithic sites included the Sand Rockshelter, Applecross, and the rock shelter at Loch a' Sguirr, at the north end of the island of Raasay. Steven was also involved with the excavation of the Mesolithic sites at Camus Daraich in Sleat, An Corran lithic scatters near Staffin - both on Skye, and has carried out his own research discovering and excavating lithic scatter sites on the island of Scalpay, off Skye, and Rubh an Dunain Cave, also on Skye, and tracing sites in the landscape where raw materials for the manufacture of stone tools were procured including the area around Staffin, Skye and Bloodstone Hill on the island of Rum.