166 W. B. Wright 8f A. M. Peach— Neolithic Man in Culomatj, 



raised beach gravels, called by Messrs. Coffey & Praeger the ' Lame 

 type ', are identical, if we neglect the difference of material, which is 

 determined by local circumstances, with the axe-heads of ' Nostvet 

 type ' which Professor Brogger finds to be associated with the highest 

 shoreline of the Littorina— Tapes depression in Norway. We must 

 remember, however, that as Messrs. Coffey & Praeger point out, the 

 Larne Spit was not a dwelling-place, but only a workshop, where the 

 axe-heads may possibly have been merely roughed out and taken away 

 to be finished elsewhere. 



In the Isle of Man Mr. Lamplugh found that the worked flints were 

 plentiful on the surface of the inner portions of the wide gravel 

 platform of the raised beach, which has there an altitude of 10 or 

 12 feet above high- water mark, while they were absent except as 

 rolled fragments on the seaward portions. He concluded that at any 

 rate part of the platform was in existence and above sea-level in 

 Neolithic times, but that it may not have attained its full breadth 

 until after the close of that period. 1 



Coming now to Scotland we find several cases like that described by 

 Mr. Lamplugh. In the famous sands of Luce the Neolithic remains 

 occur in the landward part of the sandhills overlying the gravels of 

 the raised beach, while in the seaward part of the dunes they are 

 absent. 



Where the River Avon enters the carse lands of the Forth is 

 a series of kitchen middens, described by Dr. Peach, all of which 

 occur either on the bluff which borders the carse or just at its base, 

 as if, when it was .the limit of high water, the people who formed the 

 middens, after searching the shores during low water, had retreated 

 thither to enjoy their feast while the tide covered their hunting- 

 ground. 2 In this case, however, there is no conclusive evidence that 

 the middens were made by Neolithic man, since no implements have 

 been found in them. The fact that they occur at the foot of the cliffs 

 shows that they are at least later than the '25-foot' maximum 

 submergence. 



A. few other cases in which Neolithic remains can he shown to have 

 a definite relation to former oscillations might be cited, but the above 

 are sufficient to show that very definite and valuable results may be 

 obtained by careful observation of the distribution and site of 

 implements. It is proposed in the following pages to give an account 

 of a Neolithic floor recently found in one of the Western Isles of 

 Scotland under conditions which seem to indicate a higher level of 

 the .sea during its occupation ; and at the same time to pass in review 

 for the purpose of comparison such other Neolithic remains as have 

 hitherto been recorded from the island. 



II. Former Investigations in Colonsay. 

 The first indication of the former occupation of Colonsay by 

 Neolithic man was the finding in the bed of hoch Fada, at the time 

 when its surface was lowered by draining, of a finely shaped stone 



1 G. W. Lamplugh, " The Geology of the Isle of Man " : Mem. Geol. Survey 

 U.K., 1903, p. 403. 



2 Mem. Geol. Survey Scot., Explanation of Sheet 31, Edin., 1879, p. 54. 



