The Black Mount and surrounding area is rich in historic and pre-historic sites. It is believed that the route to the South of the Pentlands was the path used by hunter gatherers in the Mesolithic period, between 8,000 BC and 4,000 BC, to travel East and West across southern Scotland. Black Mount itself has views in all directions looking over one of the most prolific pre-historic landscapes in Scotland.

The Neolithic or New Stone Age ran from around 4,000 BC to around 2,200 BC. A considerable amount of Neolithic evidence has been unearthed between Biggar and Dolphinton. Indeed, in one farm alone, Kippit in Dolphinton, finds of no fewer than ten Neolithic axes are recorded. These are now in the National Museum of Scotland.

The principal site type recorded is ring enclosures. These are turf and or stone circular banks, seldom seen with gaps or entrances in their perimeters, but occasionally with cairns within them. Whilst their date and function are still unsure, two on the west side of Black Mount are most probably Bronze Age enclosed cremation cemeteries, dating from between 2,100 BC and 750 BC. Keir Hill in Dolphinton exhibits similar mounds and banks showing extensive signs of pre-historic activity.

Just outside the Black Mount area, Bronze Age graves or cists were excavated at West Water Reservoir in 1991. To preserve them, they were resited at the side of West Linton Golf Course. The grave contents consisted of well-preserved pots, a cannel coal necklace and the remains of a very unusual lead necklace. They can also be seen in the National Museum of Scotland.

In the British Isles, the Iron Age lasted from about 750 BC until the Roman conquest, and until the 5th century in non-Romanised areas. Remains of Iron Age forts can be traced in the hills surrounding the Black Mount area.

A Roman road was constructed in 140 AD, running from Clydesdale to Cramond and Inveresk. It traversed the South of the Black Mount area from South West to North East, largely following the former Mesolithic route. It can be traced between Ingraston and West Linton, and again farther to the North East, between Lynedale and Nine Mile Burn. However, few, if any, Roman remains have been discovered in the area.

Between the 6th and 8th Centuries AD, the South East of Scotland was under the control of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. It was a period which saw the increasingly widespread adoption of Christianity. Among these early Christian communities, the dead were often buried in slab-lined graves or long cists. One or two of these have been noted in the area. These can occur singly or in small groups, found at a number of sites in Upper Tweeddale.

Click here for the more recent history of the Black Mount area.

The Gazetteer for Scotland web site offers an excellent range of information, both geographical and historical, on the Black Mount area. Click here to access this web site.

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