EXTANT PALAEOLITHIC SCOTLAND

Geomorphology of "Morainless Buchan"

The predominant feature of the area of excavation is its capping by the Buchan Flint deposits.

The complete absence of early or mid Devensian glaciation in the vicinity credits these deposits with, at least 150,000 Yrs. of exposure.

Weathered granite, nearby, credits them with an exposure not earlier than the granite but much earlier than the Devensian or the Riss, equating to at least 260,000 Yrs. of exposure.

The works of Jamieson, Bremner, Scott Simpson, Synge, Walton and Fitzpatrick, which have never been rebutted, combine to establish that the deposits are Pliocene by birthright.

It is still possible to walk over the ridges of these deposits and look down on the palaeo-valleys and lagoons which they helped form.

The area of interest shows signs of much fluvial activity in the past but none of late, principal, glaciation.

The vertical positioning of the deposits, which cap nearby hill of Longhaven, confirm the inordinate amount of periglacial "Freeze Thaw" activity that has taken place.

These deposits may be revealed by the removal of less than one spade depth of topsoil and are to be found in perfect vertical orientation.

Considering one currently accepted arrival of the deposits as being by ice, from the North Sea or the Moray Firth, along with their vertical attitude, then, their periglacial activity commenced sometime prior to the Mindel- Riss, Great inter-glacial period and has continued uninterrupted.