Ring of prehistoric settlements around city, says study
PREHISTORIC man was likely to have lived in a number of settlements in and around present-day Glasgow, research has revealed.
Analysis of rock art sites dating back 5,000 years has confirmed a “ring” of probable settlements around what is now the city.
The creation of Glasgow is likely to have destroyed further evidence of Neolithic life in the area.
Early settlers lived close to the River Clyde from at least 3,000 BC due to the area’s quality farmland and good access to waterways, experts believe.
The findings come as Scotland’s Rock Art Project works with communities across the country to record in detail about 2,000 ancient sites where mysterious cup and ring carvings can be found.
Numerous theories surround the meaning of the markings which may have served as territorial markers, astronomical maps or made as part of a ritual.
While the meaning of the symbols has yet to be deciphered, the markings leave an unprecedented insight into how the country was populated in the distant past. Dr Tertia Barnett, principal investigator of Scotland’s Rock Art Project, said a concentration of 14 to 15 pieces of rock art has been recorded in a park on the edge of Faifley, to the north of Clydebank.
She said: “There is probably an awful lot more in this area. There is actually a ring of sites around Glasgow.
“My suspicion is that Faifley is a relic of a much more expansive spread of rock art and I think it offers a really important little glimpse of what might have been around Glasgow. It is really important that it is protected and recorded. It is likely the Clyde was an important artery, connecting different areas to the sea and to the islands. From Faifley it would have been easy to get round the coast to Bute and Arran, for example.
“People would have travelled by water instead of through the wooded interior of the country.”
The Cochno Stone, described as the most important Neolithic cup and ring marked rock art panel in Europe, was excavated at Faifley in 2015 and 2016 by Dr Kenneth Brophy, senior lecturer in archaeology at Glasgow University.