Colonsay
| Colonsay (Colbhasa) | |
|---|---|
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| Waters | Atlantic Ocean |
| Archipelago | Inner Hebrides |
| Geographical location | 56 ° 4 ′ N , 6 ° 13 ′ W |
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| length | 16.3 km |
| width | 5.1 km |
| surface | 40.74 km² |
| Highest elevation | Càrnan Eoin (Carn nan Eun) 143 m |
| Residents | 124 3 inhabitants / km² |
| main place | Scalasaig |
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Colonsay ( Scottish Gaelic : Colbhasa ) is an island of the Inner Hebrides in Scotland . It is about 15 miles south of the Isle of Mull . In 2011, 124 people lived on Colonsay. Colonsay has been around since 7000 BC. Settled in BC ( Mesolithic ). The main town is Scalasaig on the east coast, with a ferry port.
history
Mesolithic (7000–3800 BC)
The earliest settlement of the islands Colonsay and Oronsay, which were initially constantly connected to each other, took place around 7000 BC. By the arrival of hunters. The excavations carried out between 1879 and 1884 by several people from Kökkenmöddingen yielded bone and stone tools in addition to shell material. The Kökkenmöddinger had a diameter of 25 and 30 meters and were 2.5 and 3.5 m high. The deposits mainly consist of the shells of the limpet ( patella vulgata ) and quicksand. Oronsay has been researched more extensively in the recent past. The data show intense exploitation of island resources from the middle of the 5th to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. The excavations show either accumulations of intact mussel shells or predominantly fragmented shells mixed with municipal waste. Thanks to modern excavation technology, remains of fish were also discovered, especially saithe .
Neolithic (3800–2000 BC)
In the early 4th millennium BC There was a settlement on the basis of agriculture. No settlements or large burial structures from the Neolithic period have yet been found on Colonsay and Oronsay . Some reading finds such as hatchets and bay leaf-shaped arrowheads from flint but are evidence of the presence of Neolithic populations.
Bronze Age (2500–600 BC)
From the 3rd millennium BC Until the middle of the first millennium BC Chr. Be Cairns , stone boxes , Menhire applied and field systems. The older excavations are incompletely published and most of the finds have been lost. Two of the burial mounds probably contained central stone boxes. Some are related to a late Bronze Age, perhaps even younger, group. The ornate stone found in a stone box could not be dated. In addition to menhirs, there are cup markings at the entrance to the Uamh na Mine cave on Kiloran Bay. The islands have a number of difficult to date roundhouse floor plans and field systems. Most of them are related to Bronze Age settlements. Some can also belong to earlier or later epochs. The free-standing round huts have internal diameters between five and eight meters; numerous were found in the highlands. Its walls, mostly made of earth and stone, are between 1.5 m and 2.5 m thick. The majority are simple rotundas , but several have bulges reminiscent of the more recent domes of the Hebrides . No field system has survived in its entirety. But there are extensive fragments. The smaller parcels were apparently used for agriculture, while the enclosures were related to livestock.
Iron Age (600 BC - 400 AD)
The Iron Age structures on Colonsay and Oronsay belong to the fortification and dun categories . Although the categories are divided by archaeological tradition, there are no cultural or functional differences. The monuments of Scotland were placed in the Atlantic context and the period between the 1st millennium BC. And assigned to the first five centuries AD. The builders belonged to a group known in classical sources as Ebudae or Ebudes. Loose contact between the societies and the Romanized provinces in the south can be established through individual ceramic finds. Colonsay is dense compared to areas of similar size in Argyll. There are eight paved sites on Colonsay and one on Oronsay. Dun Cholla, Dun Domhnuill, Dun Eibhinn, Dun Gallain and Dun Meadhonach are large complexes with massive walls, while Dun Uragaig and Meall Lamalum are much smaller. Their function is difficult to assess, as facilities of this type have not yet been excavated. But it is questionable whether these structures functioned in the same way as the larger ones. More symbolically, a low wall separates the steeply sloping promontory of Dun Tealtaig and forms a Promontory Fort . Several duns contain round or irregularly shaped house foundations. A basin cut into the adjacent rock in Dun Domhnuill has its counterpart in the early historical fortress Dunadd . There it is associated with the consecration of the members of the Dalriada dynasty .
Early Christian period
By the middle of the first millennium AD, settlers from County Antrim , Ireland, came to Colonsay and Oronsay. The clans known as Scotti founded the Kingdom of Dalriada on both sides of the Irish Sea. The surviving archaeological evidence is related to the activities of the early Christian church. The most notable object is the Riasg Buidhe cross . Cross slabs in a burial on Kiloran Bay suggests Christian influence on the Norse settlers in the last quarter of the 9th century.
Viking age
The earliest references to the presence of the Vikings around the islands date from the last decades of the 8th century, when they appear as raiders of monasteries. On Colonsay and Oronsay, their presence from the early 9th to the 10th century is indicated by typical grave shapes and grave goods. There are long stone boxes (in Machrins) and the short stone boxes covered by a boat (on Kiloran Bay). The oval brooch from the tomb of Cam a 'Bharraich is one of the oldest examples of Viking material found in Scotland. The size and number of Scandinavian settlements are difficult to assess. Old Norse names can be found on both islands. The burials, consisting of roughly equal parts of men's and women's graves, indicate permanent settlement. Colonsay and Oronsay were part of the "Kingdom of Mann and the Isles" (1079–1266) until the 13th century.
middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, the islands were under the MacDonald's rule. The MacDuffies or MacFies received the islands from the Crown in 1493, after the MacDonalds became extinct. Malcolm MacDuffie's name, entitled Lord of Dunevin on Colonsay, is found on an early 16th century tombstone on Iona . In the 17th century the islands became part of the county of Argyll. In 1701 the 10th Earl of Argyll sold it to the McNeill, who owned it through various branches of the family until 1904.
Modern times
In 1901 there were still 322 inhabitants on the island.
fauna and Flora
Colonsay, in connection with Oronsay, has been a reserve for the dark European bee since 2014 , also because neither bee diseases such as nosemosis or foulbrood nor the varroa mite occur here. The keeping of other bee breeds is prohibited by law in order to protect the purebred.
literature
- John Mercer: Hebridean islands. Colonsay, Gigha, Jura. Blackie, Glasgow et al. 1974, ISBN 0-216-89726-2 .
- Paul Mellars: Excavations on Oronsay. Prehistoric human ecology on a small island. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1987, ISBN 0-85224-544-0 .
Web links
- Official website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census data
- ↑ Canmore
- ↑ PDF at www.colonsay.org.uk ( Memento of the original dated August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Eric McArthur: Independent Beekeepers. In: German bee journal . Vol. 22, No. 9, 2014, p. 32 f.
