Mesolithic Tree Trunk

3D Model

An oak timber was discovered in 2013 within intertidal peats at the Bay of Ireland, Stenness, Orkney, representing a unique archaeologi- cal find. Subsequent excavation and rescue of the timber took place in 2014 to investigate its stratigraphical relationship before further eroding. Dendrochronological and morphological study identified the timber as a possible radially split log, c. 150 years of age when felled. No dendrochronological match was possible, and a wiggle-match date obtained provided a Later Mesolithic felling date of 4410–4325 cal BC. This timber is the first and only evidence so far for the use of oak in Mesolithic Orkney. The timber is significant palaeoecologically, sug- gesting oak may have been indigenous to Orkney. This adds to a grow- ing argument for the existence of areas of “true woodland”. Pollen evidence shows the timber was deposited within reedswamp, fringed by willow-birch carr-woodland, with oak unlikely to have been grow- ing in the immediate location. - Scott Timpany et al.