High Pasture Cave (Gaelic: ''Uamh An Ard-Achaidh'') is an archaeological site on the island of Skye,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Human presence is documented since the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, 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 i ...

, and remains, including

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

structures, point to ritual veneration of either the landscape or deities associated with the place. The cave system extends to about of accessible passages

Site

The cave is about southeast of the village of Torrin, near Kilbride. The entrance of the cave lies in a narrow valley on the northern slopes of the mountain of Beinn Dùbhaich, east of the Red Cuillin hills, and is formed by erosion of ''Durness''

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The interior is accessed via a natural shaft about deep that leads into the main cave, which appears to have been in use between 1,200 BC and 200 BC (mid-

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

to late

). After about there is a fork, with a rocky, dry passage on the right. In 2002 the cave explorer Steven Birch discovered broken crockery and bones. Previous visitors to the cave had thrown this material aside in the attempts to find new ways. Birch recognized the value of the find as well as the importance of the cave.

Excavations

The cave system was originally excavated in 1972 by students of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Speleological Society. A full year of excavation then took place in 2003, mainly supported by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

, and continuing project work was under the supervision of Steven Birch and Martin Wildgoose.

Finds

A wide variety of artifacts has been recovered from the cave and its surroundings, including stone items, bone, antler and residue of metalworkings along with well-preserved faunal remains."High Pasture Cave"
Highland Council. Retrieved 30 April 2012. Arrowheads left behind by nomadic hunters suggest occupation during the

period (about 6,000 to 7,000 years ago). It was only occasionally occupied during the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and the

until about 800 BC, when the site became more frequented and a large fireplace was set up in front of its entrance. The entrance area also seems to have been used for ceremonies or storage of personal items. During the following 1000 years, activities and ash deposits of the fire site threatened to block the entrance of the cave. A staircase about in length was built to permit entry to the cave. Hundreds of finds (bronze, bone and antler needles, glass and ivory beads) around the fire pit and the cave floor point to a place of intense activity. This lasted until about 40 BC, when the stairs were completely filled with boulders and earth. The skeleton of a woman along with a four to five month-old fetus and a nine to ten month-old child were placed on top of the filling. In 2012 a piece of carved wood thought to be the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

of a

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

was discovered. The small burnt and broken piece has been dated to approximately 300 BC and is the earliest find of a stringed instrument in western Europe. The notches where the strings would have been placed can be easily distinguished and according to Graeme Lawson of Cambridge Music Archaeological Research the find "pushes the history of complex music n Britainback more than a thousand years"."Delight at find of ancient lyre". (5 April 2012) Inverness. ''Highland News''. If dating and attribution are confirmed, this object may indicate contacts between local Celtic people and Mediterranean cultures.

Notes

References

External links

High Pasture Cave website
{{Navbox prehistoric caves Landforms of the Isle of Skye Archaeological sites in the Northern Inner Hebrides Landforms of Highland (council area) Caves of Scotland