s "Celtic" I cannot say how early _Bos_ may have existed among the
Celts of Britain, but the Romans are thought by some persons to have
brought the Celtic ox to the Celts of our island. If this be so, the
Clyde sites are not earlier (or _Bos_ in these sites is not earlier) than
the Roman invasion. He lasted into the seventh or eighth centuries A.D.
at least, and is found on a site discovered by Dr. Munro at Elie. {40a}
Meanwhile archaeology is so lazy, that, after seven years, Dr. Bryce's
"reports on the osseous remains" of Langbank and Dumbuck is but lately
published. {40b}

{ Figs. 1, 2: p40a.jpg}

Dr. Bryce, in his report to the Glasgow Archaeological Society, says that
"_Bos Longifrons_ has a wide range in time, from Neolithic down to
perhaps even medieval times. It was the domestic ox in Scotland for an
unknown period, before, during, and for an unknown time after the Roman
invasion. . . . The occurrence of extinct, probably long extinct,
breeds, and these only, make the phenomena in this respect at Langbank
exactly comparable with those observed at sites of pile buildings in
Scotland generally, and thus it becomes indirect evidence against the
thesis that the structure belongs to some different category, and to
quite recent times." {40c}

{ Fig. 3: p40b.jpg}

The evidence of the bones, then, denotes any date except a relatively
recent date, of 1556-1758; contrary to an hypothesis to be touched on
later. It follows, from the presence of _Bos_ at Elie (700 A.D.) that
the occupants of the Clyde sites at Langbank may have lived there as late
as, say, 750 A.D. But when they _began_ to occupy the sites is another
question.

{ Fig. 4: p40c.jpg}

If Roman objects are found, as they are, in brochs which show many relics
of bronze, it does not follow that the brochs had not existed for
centuries before the inhabitants acquired the waifs and strays of Roman
civilisation. In the Nine Caithness Brochs described by Dr. Joseph
Anderson, {41} there was a crucible . . . with a portion of melted
bronze, a bronze ring, moulds for ingots, an ingot of bronze, bits of
Roman "Samian ware," but no iron. We can be sure that the broch folk
were at some time in touch of Roman goods, brought by traffickers
perhaps, but how can we be sure that there were no brochs before the
arrival of the Romans?

We shall return to the question of the disputable relics of the Clyde,
after discussing what science has to say about the probabl