Sand on the

Applecross Peninsula Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site. Sand is the site of a major archaeological excavation on the Inner Sound coast of the

Applecross Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is ...

Peninsula in Western

, to the north of the small town of Applecross. A small number of shell

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

s were known as rare traces of

Mesolithic The Mesolithic ( Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymo ...

settlement when a rock shelter and shell midden at Sand, Applecross on the coast of

, was selected for detailed excavation as part of a study of shell middens in the area around the ''Inner Sound'' between the

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

and the mainland. The ''Scotland’s First Settlers'' project (SFS) investigating the relationship of early inhabitants with the western seaboard chose this area which had known sites at An Corran in

Staffin Staffin ( gd, Stafain) is a district with the Gaelic name ''An Taobh Sear'', which translates as "the East Side", on the northeast coast of the Trotternish peninsula of the island of Skye. It is located on the A855 road about north of Portree ...

, and at Redpoint and Shieldaig in

Torridon Torridon (Scottish Gaelic: ''Toirbheartan'') is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. However the name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torrido ...

. Their surveys in 1999 and 2000 found 104 previously unknown sites, mostly caves and rock shelters with 21 " lithic scatters" and 9 open shell middens. A proportion of these sites will be more recent, but test pits at 4 sites found ''Loch a Sguirr'' on

Raasay Raasay (; gd, Ratharsair) or the Isle of Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is famous for being the birt ...

and ''Sand'' in ''Applecross'' to be

. The indication is that there are many more surviving sites than had been expected. The rock shelter site at Sand on the Applecross peninsula, just to the north of Applecross itself, faces out across the Inner Sound westwards towards

and

. Around 7,500 years BCE the first users of the rock shelter had worked antler and stone to make tools. As well as using local stone for their tools they had obtained distinctive stone from the island of

Rùm Rùm (), a Scottish Gaelic name often anglicised to Rum (), is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, in the district of Lochaber, Scotland. For much of the 20th century the name became Rhum, a spelling invented by the former owner, Sir ...

, to the south, and Staffin on Skye, to the west, showing that they were able to cross open sea. Gradually a large pile of shells, mainly limpets, built up into a large midden. Abundant fragments of stone "pot-boilers" and bevel ended bone tools indicate that the shellfish were being cooked and the contents scooped out. There were also bones from

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...

and birds and an antler harpoon for catching a wide range of fish, including cod,

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

, haddock, herring and salmon. Fine beads had been made from

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

s, while

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

pigment and a particular species of dog whelk that may have been used for the extraction of purple dye suggest concern with decoration.

Naval base

There is a British Naval Base at Sand that monitors underwater activity around this part of the west coast. The BUTEC establishment tests marine weapons. Submarines can often be seen in the waters between

and

External links

History Scotland Magazine: First Settlers

Scotsman.com Heritage and History

Walking in Applecross - free guide

Applecross Walks, Wester Ross
{{Navbox prehistoric caves Populated places established in the 8th millennium BC Archaeological sites in Highland (council area) History of the Scottish Highlands Former populated places in Scotland Ross and Cromarty