in the Western Isles of Scotland. 169 



the cave deposits, while the ox first shows evidence of its presence 

 iibout the middle of the latter. The horse is only found in the very 

 uppermost deposits. 



The chief interest attaching to these archaeological researches is the 

 proof they afford us that the earlier inhabitants, those of Caisteal-nan- 

 Gillean, were a hunting and fishing folk, and that later, at the period 

 of occupation of the cave, they had either been replaced by or had 

 developed into a pastoral race, possessing at first only sheep, but, 

 at a later period, cattle and horses as well. It will, however, be 

 noted that none of the implements are of a type to yield definite 

 evidence of date, and it cannot with confidence be claimed that these 

 deposits are any proof of the occupation of Colonsay by Neolithic man. 



III. The Colonsay Axe-heads. 



The axe-head referred to on p. 167 was found at the western end of 

 Loch Fada by Archibald M'Connell, who, on the day of the completion 

 of the cutting made at Kiloran to lower the surface of the lake, 

 is said to have been cutting thatch at its upper end. During the 

 early part of the clay this necessitated his wading almost up to. his 

 waist, but returning to his labours after dinner he found that during 

 his absence the workmen at Kiloran had cut through, the final barrier 

 and the surface of the water had fallen several feet. The spot where 

 he had been working in the morning was now dry and the thatch 

 could be cut without wading. While walking on the soft peaty lake- 

 bottom thus exposed he put his foot on something hard, and, stooping 

 to see what it was, picked up the axe-head. It lay practically on the 

 top of the peat in which are embedded the stumps of trees which 

 occur in many places round Loch Fada, even at a depth of several feet 

 beneath its present surface. 1 



The axe-head, which can be seen in the National Museum of 

 Antiquities of Scotland, labelled A.F. 173, is of a whitish weathered 

 rock, 6 J inches long, Scinches wide where widest, and l-^- inches thick 

 where thickest. It tapers to a point at the haft end, and has a surface 

 which is ground smooth but does not at present exhibit any polish. 



Unfortunately the conditions of this find do not afford much evidence 

 as to its geological date. If we could be certain that it actually lay 

 on the old forest soil, and if we knew for certain what trees grew in 

 the forest, we might fix its date with regard to the immigration of the 

 trees. We have, however, no reliable information on either of these 

 points. All we can say is that it affords evidence that Colonsay was 

 once inhabited by a race of Neolithic men, who had reached a stage of 

 culture considerably higher than that of the Larne gravels or the 

 kitchen middens of Scandinavia and Denmark. 



The other axe-heads from Colonsay are also preserved in the National 

 Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. One of these, No. A.F. 449, was 

 found in a ploughed field in Uragaig, Colonsay, in 1881. It belonged 

 to the Galloway Collection and was purchased in 1898. Its dimensions 



1 In connexion with this account of the circumstances of the find, however, 

 it must be noted that even with an excessive estimate of the size of the outlet 

 and of the rate of flow in it the surface of the lake could not have been lowered 

 anything like 2 feet in less than twenty-four hours. • 



