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66-621: Cramond Kirk is a church situated in the middle area Cramond parish, in the north west of Edinburgh , Scotland. Built on the site of an old Roman fort , parts of the Cramond Kirk building date back to the fourteenth century and the church tower is considered to be the oldest part. Next door to the Kirk there is the Manse which has been a home for the Minister of Cramond Kirk for centuries. The existing Manse

132-418: A blade, has a nearly trapezoidal form. The Adelaide point emphasizes the range of variation in both time and culture of the laminar microliths; it also shows their technological differences, but sometimes morphological similarities, with geometric microliths. Laminar microliths can also sometimes be described as trapezoidal, triangular or lunate. However, they are distinct from the geometric microliths because of

198-571: A claim to "continuous use for Christian worship" it has had broken use as a place of worship for 1900 years making it one of the most significant religious sites in Scotland. The church was enlarged in 1701, partly to incorporate the Barnton burial vault to the east. A castellated entrance porch was added in 1811 and a major remodelling was undertaken in 1828 by Edinburgh architect William Burn . A further remodelling took place in 1851 by David Bryce . In 1911

264-564: A curved profile whose retouches are semi-abrupt and which characterize a particular phase of the Aurignacian period. Solutrean backed edge blades display pronounced and abrupt retouching, so that they are long and narrow and, although rare, characterize certain phases of the Solutrean period. Ouchtata bladelets are similar to the others, except that the retouched back is not uniform but irregular; this type of microlith characterizes certain periods of

330-399: A depleted nucleus of flint. They were produced either by percussion or by the application of a variable pressure (although pressure is the best option, this method of producing microliths is complicated and was not the most commonly used technique). There are three basic types of laminar microlith. The truncated blade type can be divided into a number of sub-types depending on the position of

396-581: A desirable suburb of Edinburgh, which it remains to this day. Cramond was officially made part of Edinburgh on 1 November 1920. On 21 February 2009, Philippa Langley began her successful Looking For Richard Project at the Cramond Inn. Cramond is located in northwest Edinburgh, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the city centre, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. Historically,

462-881: A long occupation. The end of the settlement came at the beginning of the Neolithic period. One of the skeletons that has been found has a geometric microlith lodged in one of its vertebra. All indications suggest that the person died because of this projectile; whether by intention or by accident is unknown. It is widely agreed that geometric microliths were mainly used in hunting and fishing , but they may also have been used as weapons . Well-preserved examples of arrows with microliths in Scandinavia have been found at Loshult, at Osby in Sweden , and Tværmose, at Vinderup in Denmark . These finds, which have been preserved practically intact due to

528-475: A low, gently undulating topography that drops down from the top of Corstorphine hill to the shore in three gradual stages and is intersected by the River Almond which flows northward into the Forth. John Philip Wood writing in 1794 calls the river "Amon" and notes the stretch running from Craigiehall to the Firth of Forth has wooded, high and steep banks, "frequently chequered with bold and overhanging rocks". During

594-536: A medieval church which had become ruinous by 1500. It was used from 1573 onwards. However, it is noteworthy that the said medieval church stood on the site of the temple within the former Roman fort at Cramond. The latter (probably built around 100AD) was abandoned by the Romans around 300AD, however, all evidence would point to the Roman structure surviving and being rededicated to Christian worship at some point. Although not having

660-477: A now-demolished larger establishment, was once a manor house of the Bishops of Dunkeld , of whose diocese Cramond was a part. It was made structurally sound and converted to a private dwelling in the 1980s. Cramond developed slowly over the centuries, with Cramond Kirk being founded in 1656. After a brief period spent as an industrial village in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, by the late 19th century it became

726-737: A site in France that preserves habitation from the late Magdalenian – the Pincevent . In the remains of some of the hearths at this location, bladelets are found in groups of three, perhaps indicating that they were mounted in threes on their handles. A javelin tip made of horn has been found at this site with grooves made for flint bladelets that could have been secured using a resinous substance. Signs of much wear and tear have been found on some of these finds. Specialists have carried out lithic or microwear analysis on artefacts, but it has sometimes proved difficult to distinguish those fractures made during

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792-490: A small blade ( microblade ) or a larger blade-like piece of flint by abrupt or truncated retouching , which leaves a very typical piece of waste, called a microburin . The microliths themselves are sufficiently worked so as to be distinguishable from workshop waste or accidents. Two families of microliths are usually defined: laminar and geometric. An assemblage of microliths can be used to date an archeological site. Laminar microliths are slightly larger, and are associated with

858-518: A substantial monetary reward for finding this major antiquity), and was identified as a sandstone statue of a lioness devouring a hapless male figure, probably one of a pair at the tomb of a military commander. After conservation, the statue was put on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. It is one of the most ambitious pieces of Roman sculpture to have survived in Scotland. After

924-455: A time, the earliest known site of human settlement in Scotland. The inhabitants of the Mesolithic camp-site were nomadic hunter-gatherers who moved around their territories according to the season of the year. Although no bones survived the acid soil, waste pits and stakeholes that would have supported shelters or windbreaks were excavated. Numerous discarded hazelnut shells, the waste product of

990-680: A widely variable number of microliths: in Tværmose there was only one, in Loshult there were two (one for the tip and the other as a fin), in White Hassocks, in West Yorkshire , more than 40 have been found together; the average is between 6 and 18 pieces for each projectile. Early research regard the microlithic industry in India as a Holocene phenomenon, however a new research provides solid data to put

1056-698: Is also where the House of Shaws is located in Robert Louis Stevenson 's Kidnapped . Cramond is also mentioned in Ian Rankin 's Fleshmarket Close . Cramond features briefly in a series 2 episode of the Paul Temple (TV series) called 'Double Vision' filmed in 1970. More recently Cramond featured in Young Sherlock Holmes: Fire Storm . Microlith Microliths are produced from either

1122-459: Is from the Readycon Dene site in West Yorkshire , where 35 microliths appear to be associated with a single projectile. In Urra Moor, North Yorkshire , 25 microliths give the appearance of being related to one another, due to the extreme regularity and symmetry of their arrangement in the ground. The study of English and European artifacts in general has revealed that projectiles were made with

1188-412: Is linked to land by a causeway with a line of concrete pylons on one side, constructed as an anti shipping barrier. At certain low tides, sand extends to the island, tempting visitors to visit the island, though occasionally some are stranded by the incoming tide. Cramond is associated with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie , where Mr. Lowther has his home and Miss Brodie spends much of her time. Cramond

1254-617: Is not a geometrical microlith (or even a tool), it is now seen as a characteristic waste product from the manufacture of these geometric microliths: Geometric microliths, though rare, are present as trapezoids in Northwest Africa in the Iberomaurusian . They later appear in Europe in the Magdalenian initially as elongated triangles and later as trapezoids (although the microburin technique

1320-638: Is now owned by Trustees of the Church of Scotland and until 2010 was used as the headquarters of the Scottish Wildlife Trust . The Trust relocated to Leith. The Manse dates originally from the mid-17th century and was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. The north wing was added about 1770 and a south wing in 1857. Reverend Walker, the skating minister in Raeburn 's famous portrait, lived here from 1776 to 1784. Offshore, Cramond Island has WW II fortifications and

1386-594: Is seen from the Perigordian ), they are mostly seen during the Epipaleolithic and the Neolithic . They remained in existence even into the Copper Age and Bronze Age , competing with "leafed" and then metallic arrowheads. All the currently known geometric microliths share the same fundamental characteristics – only their shapes vary. They were all made from blades or from microblades (nearly always of flint), using

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1452-512: The Chalcolithic period, or Copper Age (that is, stone arrowheads were increasingly made by a different technique during this later period). Not all the different types of laminar microliths had functions that are clearly understood. It is likely that they contributed to the points of spears or light projectiles, and their small size suggests that they were fixed in some way to a shaft or handle. Backed edge bladelets are particularly abundant at

1518-594: The Epipaleolithic Saharans . The Ibero-Maurusian and the Montbani bladelet, with a partial and irregular lateral retouching, is characteristic of the Italian Tardenoisian . These are very sharp bladelets formed by abrupt retouching. There are a huge number of regional varieties of these microliths, nearly all of which are very hard to distinguish (especially those from the western area) without knowing

1584-826: The Fa Hien Cave in Sri Lanka. A further excavation in 1988 yielded microlith stone tools, remnants of prehistoric fireplaces and organic material, such as floral and human remains. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the cave had been occupied from about 33,000 years ago, the Late Pleistocene and Mesolithic to 4,750 years ago, the Neolithic in the Middle Holocene. Human remains of the several sediment deposits were analyzed at Cornell University and studied by Kenneth A. R. Kennedy and graduate student Joanne L. Zahorsky. Sri Lanka has yielded

1650-553: The Firth of Forth . A rare example of a morthouse is located in the Church of Scotland churchyard. Near the kirk stands the imposing Cramond House. Its central part is late 17th century, with classical front added in 1778 and back in 1820. Queen Victoria visited while residing at Holyrood . It has been claimed as a possible original of R. L. Stevenson ’s "House of Shaws" in Kidnapped . It

1716-577: The Firth of Forth . The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic , Bronze Age and Roman activity. In modern times, it was the birthplace of the Scottish economist John Law (1671–1729). Cramond was incorporated into the City of Edinburgh by the Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5 . c. lxxxvii). It was once believed that Cramond Roman Fort was known to

1782-607: The Tungrian cohort who erected the altar. In the centuries that followed the end of the Roman occupation, Cramond passed into the hands of the Votadini , who spoke Cumbric , a Brythonic Celtic language , and gave the settlement its name. Cramond is derived from the compound Caer Amon , meaning 'fort on the river', referring to the Roman fort that lay on the River Almond. Archaeological excavations at Cramond have uncovered evidence of habitation dating to around 8500 BC , making it, for

1848-418: The microburin technique (which implies that it is not possible to conserve the remains of the heel or the conchoidal flakes from the blank). The pieces were then finished by a percussive retouching of the edges (generally leaving one side with the natural edge of the blank), giving the piece its definitive polygonal form. For example, in order to make a triangle, two adjacent notches were retouched, leaving free

1914-602: The Emperor Antoninus Pius , with the task of establishing a fort at the mouth of the River Almond. This fort would guard the eastern flank of the fortified frontier known as the Antonine Wall (named after the Emperor, as with Hadrian 's Wall) that the Romans had established across Scotland. Nearly five hundred men worked on the site, building a fort that covered nearly six acres, with a harbour for communication. However,

1980-629: The Epipaleolithic and the Mesolithic, the presence of laminar or geometric microliths serves to date the deposits of different cultural traditions. For instance, in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa, the end of the Upper Paleolithic period coincides with the end of the Aterian tradition of producing laminar microliths, and deposits can be dated by the presence or absence of these artifacts. In

2046-672: The Near East, the laminar microliths of the Kebarian culture were superseded by the geometric microliths of the Natufian tradition a little more than 11,000 years ago. This pattern is repeated throughout the Mediterranean basin and across Europe in general. A similar thing is found in England, where the preponderance of elongated microliths, as opposed to other frequently occurring forms, has permitted

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2112-561: The Netherlands. A ruined water mill lies further up the Almond along a quiet walk past a yacht club and sailing boats moored in the river. To the east a sand beach and waterfront esplanade provides a popular walk to Silverknowes and Granton . On the other side of the Almond, (once accessible by a rowing-boat ferry) the Dalmeny Estate has a pleasant walk through Dalmeny Woods along the shore of

2178-640: The Romans as Alaterva . A stone altar was dug up in the grounds of Cramond House dedicated "To the Alatervan Mothers and the Mothers of the Parade-ground." Early antiquarians interpreted the inscription as referring to the place where the stone was found, but this idea is no longer accepted among scholars, and "Alatervae" is presumably a native name for the deities the Matres and Matronae , perhaps originating with

2244-453: The South Asia microliths industry up to 45 ka across whole South Asia subcontinent. This new research also synthesizes the data from genetic, paleoenvironmental and archaeological research, and proposes that the emergence of microlith in India subcontinent could reflect the increase of population and adaptation of environmental deterioration. In 1968 human burials sites were uncovered inside

2310-525: The archaeological context in which they appear. The following is a small selection. Omitted are the foliaceous tips (also called leafed tips), which are characterized by a covering retouch and which constitute a group apart. The next group contains a number of points from the Middle East characterized as cultural markers. The Adelaide point is found in Australia . Its construction, based on truncations on

2376-413: The area its characteristic chocolate-brown soil. The leaflet "Geological history of cramond" provides information about the geology of the cramond area such as that there is a coal seam visible near the beach on the south west side of the river almond estuary. On the coast, west of the River Almond is Hunter's Craig or Eagle Rock, with a carving traditionally maintained to be that of an eagle. The carving

2442-605: The best known is a microlith from Star Carr in Yorkshire that retains residues of resin, probably used to fix it to the tip of a projectile. Recent excavations have found other examples. Archeologists at the Risby Warren V site in Lincolnshire have uncovered a row of eight triangular microliths that are equidistantly aligned along a dark stain indicating organic remains (possibly the wood from an arrow shaft). Another clear indication

2508-479: The church was lengthened and most of the internal structures of galleries etc. were rebuilt. 55°58′40″N 3°18′00″W  /  55.9777°N 3.3000°W  / 55.9777; -3.3000 Cramond Cramond Village ( / ˈ k r æ m ən d / ; Scottish Gaelic : Cair Amain ) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh , Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters

2574-424: The departure of the Romans, little is known about the state of Cramond for several centuries. The historiography of the period has been summed up by the historian J. Wood, who wrote 'a dark cloud of obscurity again settled over the parish of Cramond, of which I cannot find the smallest memorial in any historian till the year 995.' A tower house , Cramond Tower , probably built in the early 15th century, and part of

2640-522: The earliest known microliths, which did not appear in Europe until the Early Holocene. 2019 study found Fa-Hien Lena cave microlith assemblage represents the earliest microlith assemblage in South Asia dating back to c. 48,000–45,000 years ago. Laminar microliths are common artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic and the Epipaleolithic, to such a degree that numerous studies have used them as markers to date different phases of prehistoric cultures. During

2706-419: The edges, generally a side one, rounded or chamfered by abrupt retouching. There are fewer types of these blades, and may be divided into those where the entire edge is rounded and those where only a part is rounded, or even straight. They are fundamental in the blade-forming processes, and from them, innumerable other types were developed. Dufour bladelets are up to three centimeters in length, finely shaped with

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2772-554: The end of the Upper Paleolithic and the beginning of the Epipaleolithic era; geometric microliths are characteristic of the Mesolithic and the Neolithic . Geometric microliths may be triangular, trapezoid or lunate . Microlith production generally declined following the introduction of agriculture (8000 BCE) but continued later in cultures with a deeply rooted hunting tradition. Regardless of type, microliths were used to form

2838-418: The far north, but are particularly common in south-east Australia. Historically, backed artefacts were divided into asymmetrical Bondi points and symmetrical geometric microliths, however there appears to be no geographic or temporal pattern in the distribution of these shapes. Backed artefact manufacturing workshops have been identified at Ngungara show significant variation in shape, which has been linked to

2904-533: The fort was only inhabited for a short time, perhaps fifteen years, before it was abandoned by the troops who were ordered to retreat south to Hadrian's Wall . Pottery and coins of later date indicate that the fort and harbour were reinhabited and used as a base for the army and navy of the Emperor Septimius Severus , sometime between 208 and 211. The medieval parish church of Cramond parish (which retains its late medieval western tower in altered form),

2970-634: The great number of geometric microliths that have been found in Western Europe, few examples show any clear evidence of their use, and all the examples are from the Mesolithic or Neolithic periods. Despite this, there is unanimity amongst researchers that these items were used to increase the penetrating potential of light projectiles such as harpoons , assegais , javelins and arrows . The most common form of microliths found in Australia are backed artefacts. The earliest backed artefacts have been dated to

3036-511: The haft of a tool was harder to produce than the point or edge: replacing dull or broken microliths with new easily portable ones was easier than making new hafts or handles. Laminar microliths date from at least the Gravettian culture or possibly the start of the Upper Paleolithic era, and they are found all through the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. "Noailles" burins and micro-gravettes ( see § Micro points , below ) indicate that

3102-449: The inhabitants' staple food, were found in the pits and used to carbon-date the site. It is thought the site was chosen for its location near the junction of the Firth of Forth and the River Almond, where the rich oyster and mussel beds proved a reliable natural resource. Many microlith stone tools manufactured at the site were found, and pre-date finds of similar style in England. Around 142, Roman forces arrived at Cramond by order of

3168-469: The last ice age the area was heavily glaciated, and the main direction of the ice flow was west to east. Consequently, there are rock deposits on the east side of landforms such as the Almond river valley, and until the Cramond promenade was built in the 1930s large glacial boulders were strewn along the shore. The geology of Cramond consists of calciferous sandstone , which mixed with two later sills to give

3234-466: The least diversity of all and may be either semicircular or segmental . Archeological findings and the analysis of wear marks, or use-wear analysis , has shown that, predictably, the tips of spears , harpoons and other light projectiles of varying size received the most wear. Microliths were also used from the Neolithic on arrows , although a decline in this use coincided with the appearance of bifacial or "leafed" arrowheads that became widespread in

3300-399: The need to replace components of composite tools. Several studies in the production of backed artefacts have linked identified heat treatment as a key component as well as the use of large flank blanks. Functional studies of backed artefacts from south-eastern Australia show that they were multipurpose and multifunctional tools with a similar range of uses as unretouched flakes found at

3366-466: The parish of Cramond extended from the shore of the Firth of Forth in the north to the parish of Corstorphine in the south, and was bounded on the west by the parishes of Dalmeny and Kirkliston and on the east by the parish of St Cuthbert's. It covered an area of fifteen square miles, and encompassed the villages of Granton , Pilton , Muirhouse , Davidson's Mains , Blackhall , Ravelston , Craigcrook , Turnhouse and Craigiehall . The area has

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3432-564: The pink granite there by sculptor Ronald Rae in 2002. Cramond Kirk Church Hall also displays the smaller Cramond Fish . In the car park, to the rear of the Kirk Hall, another sculpture (elephant) is taking shape. The older houses along the wharf are typical of traditional south-east Scottish vernacular architecture , constructed in stone with harling white lime render finish, with facing stone window and door surrounds and crow-step gables , roofed with orangey-red clay pantiles imported from

3498-581: The points of hunting weapons, such as spears and (in later periods) arrows , and other artifacts and are found throughout Africa, Asia and Europe. They were utilised with wood, bone, resin and fiber to form a composite tool or weapon, and traces of wood to which microliths were attached have been found in Sweden, Denmark and England. An average of between six and eighteen microliths may often have been used in one spear or harpoon, but only one or two in an arrow. The shift from earlier larger tools had an advantage. Often

3564-452: The process of fashioning the flint implement from those made during its use. Microliths found at Hengistbury Head in Dorset , England, show features that can be confused with chisel marks, but which might also have been produced when the tip hit a hard object and splintered. Microliths from other locations have presented the same problems of interpretation. An exceptional piece of evidence for

3630-404: The production of microliths had already started in the Gravettian culture. This style of flint working flourished during the Magdalenian period and persisted in numerous Epipaleolithic traditions all around the Mediterranean basin. These microliths are slightly larger than the geometric microliths that followed and were made from the flakes of flint obtained ad hoc from a small nucleus or from

3696-596: The same sites. There is one unambiguous example of them being used as part of composite weapon, either a spear or a club, as 17 backed artefacts were found embedded into the skeleton of an adult male dated to approximately 4000 years BP in the Sydney suburb of Narrabeen . In France, one unusual site stands out: the Mesolithic cemetery of Téviec , an island in Brittany . Numerous flint microliths were discovered here. They are believed to date to between 6740 and 5680 years BP - quite

3762-437: The special conditions of the peat bogs , have included wooden arrows with microliths attached to the tip by resinous substances and cords. According to radiocarbon measurements, the Loshult arrows are dated to around 8000 BC, which represents a middle part of the Maglemose culture . This is close to the Early Boreal/Late Boreal transition. There are many examples of possible tools from Mesolithic deposits in England. Possibly

3828-422: The strokes used in the manufacture of geometric microliths, which mainly involved the microburin technique . Geometric microliths are a clearly defined type of stone tool, at least in their basic forms. They can be divided into trapezoid, triangular and lunate (half-moon) forms, although there are many subdivisions of each of these types. A microburin is included among the illustrations below because, although it

3894-445: The terminal Pleistocene , however they become increasingly common in Aboriginal Australian societies in the mid- Holocene , before declining in use and disappearing from the archaeological record approximately 1000 years before the British invasion of the continent in 1788 . The cause of this proliferation event is debated amongst archaeologists. Geographically they are found across almost all of continental Australia, except for

3960-537: The third edge or base (using the terminology of Fortea). They generally have one long axis and concave or convex edges, and it is possible for them to have a gibbosity (hump) or indentations. Triangular microliths may be isosceles , scalene or equilateral . In the case of trapezoid geometric microliths, on the other hand, the notches are not retouched, leaving a portion of the natural edge between them. Trapezoids can be further subdivided into symmetrical, asymmetrical and those with concave edges. Lunate microliths have

4026-430: The truncation (for example, oblique, square or double) and according to its form, for example, concave or convex. "Raclette scrapers" are notable for their particular form, being blades or flakes whose edges have been sharply retouched until they are semicircular or even shapeless. Raclettes are indefinite cultural indicators, as they appear from the Upper Paleolithic through to the Neolithic. Backed edge blades have one of

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4092-453: The use of microliths has been found in the excavations of the cave at Lascaux in the French Dordogne . Twenty backed edge bladelets were found with the remains of a resinous substance and the imprint of a circular handle (a horn). It appears that the bladelets might have been fixed in groups like the teeth of a harpoon or similar weapon. In all these locations, the microliths found have been backed edge blades, tips and crude flakes. Despite

4158-404: Was built within the Roman fort. Though knowledge of the Roman presence at Cramond was recorded afterwards, the remains of the fort itself were only rediscovered in 1954. Substantial archaeological research was carried out upon its discovery to build up a reasonably accurate picture of the site in Roman times. The fort was rectangular in shape, with walls fifteen feet high on all sides. A gatehouse

4224-408: Was constructed in three parts, as extensions were needed to the original building. The pre-Reformation church was dedicated to St Columba and fell under the control of the Bishop of Dunkeld rather than the much closer religious centres of Holyrood Abbey or St Cuthberts (both in Edinburgh). The existing church mainly dates from 1656 but incorporates a 15th-century tower and stands on the site of

4290-410: Was described by William Maitland in 1753 to have become "prey to time and the inclemency of the weather". Canmore states the age of the carving as uncertain and its present condition as extremely weathered. The 8 tonne work Fish has been permanently installed on the Waterfront at Cramond in 2009 after a successful campaign by the Cramond community, paying homage to the eight months of carving of

4356-413: Was set in every wall, allowing access in all four directions. Inside, there were barracks, workshops, granaries, headquarters and the commander's house. Later excavations revealed other constructions outside the boundary of the fort, including a bath-house , further industrial workshops and a native settlement. In 1997, the Cramond Lioness was uncovered in the harbour mud by a local boatman (who received

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