Cramond: Difference between revisions

The Cramond area has evidence of [[Mesolithic]], [[Bronze Age]] and [[Roman Scotland|Roman]] activity. In modern times, it was the birthplace of the Scottish economist [[John Law (economist)|John Law]] (1671–1729). Cramond was incorporated into the City of Edinburgh by the Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Act 1920.<ref>[https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/museums-galleries/1920-city-boundary-extension-centenary/1 ReDrawing Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Boundary Extension Centennial 1920 Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303093221/https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/museums-galleries/1920-city-boundary-extension-centenary/1 |date=3 March 2021 }}, [[City of Edinburgh Council]]</ref>

Archaeological excavations at Cramond have uncovered evidence of habitation dating to around [[9th millennium BC|8500 BC]], making it, for a time, the earliest known site of human settlement in Scotland.<ref name="Nuts give clue to 'oldest' Scots site">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1352091.stm| title=Nuts give clue to 'oldest' Scots site| work= BBC News| access-date=28 June 2008 | date=26 May 2001}}</ref> The inhabitants of the Mesolithic camp-site were nomadic hunter-gatherers who moved around their territories according to the season of the year.<ref name="hunter-gatherers">Cramond Heritage Trust (1996), p. 8</ref> 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 the inhabitants' staple food, were found in the pits and used to carbon-date the site.<ref name="hunter-gatherers"/> 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.<ref name="Earliest evidence found of settlers in Scotland">{{cite web| url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/BA/ba60/news.shtml| title=Earliest evidence found of settlers in Scotland| author= British Archaeology| access-date=28 June 2008| archive-date=19 July 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719163636/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba60/news.shtml| url-status=dead}}</ref>