The remaining points of interest on the walk date from a much earlier period than the fermtoun, indicating continuity of settlement from the Bronze Age (circa 2000 BC) onwards. On the left is a Bronze Age house platform. Fuller information is given at the next stop.
Over 600 individual Bronze Age Unenclosed Platforms have been recorded in Upper Clydesdale and neighbouring Tweeddale. They represent dozens of settlements of up to 35 platforms and some have been dated to between 900BC and 1800BC. The spacious and comfortable round houses were built on the levelled scoops which were quarried from the hillside.
Often lines of platforms are found which perhaps formed a barrier between the pasture lands above and the corn fields below. These farming communities would supplement their diet with wild game and fish.
These pre-historic villages were without defensive enclosures, indicating that the people were living in harmony. It is uncertain if all the platforms had round houses and if all the settlements were occupied at the same time, but some sites have been shown to have over 200 years of occupation.
The local population would probably have been greater than it is today in this district. Many burial sites of this period, mostly cremations, have been found in the area. A fine flint dagger was found last century in the nearby Glenochar Burn.
