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A methodology is described by which spatial patterns of land use were reconstructed from pollen analyses on anthropogenic sediments at a recently excavated early Neolithic timber ‘hall’ in north east Scotland. The anthropogenic sediments were from a deep, small diameter pit within the building. They present numerous taphonomic and interpretative challenges to the analyst, but from this type of deposit, the power to estimate quantitatively the vegetation structure around the archaeological site makes such difficult deposits very significant. A rigorous methodology is firstly described, therefore, by which confidence in ecological interpretation can be established. Secondly, the source of pollen in the deposit is evaluated. Thirdly, the possible pollen source area and structure of the surrounding vegetation are estimated by quantitative simulation modelling. Finally, these analyses are compared with region-scale pollen analyses from nearby conventional wetland deposits with much larger pollen source areas. The pollen assemblages recovered probably reflect land uses adjacent to the ‘hall’ and up to 2.5 km around. Cereal cultivation was the most important land use immediately around the ‘hall’, possibly grown between stands of scrub Corylus (hazel) woodland. These intensive but local-scale land uses cannot be discerned in region-scale pollen analyses.

Marginality and climatic determinism are common themes in upland archaeology, particularly in northern Britain, but there is increasing evidence to challenge these assumptions, notably in the palynological record. An alternative model for land-use in a highland valley is developed using three high spatial-resolution pollen sequences from north-west Scotland. In spatial terms, land-use was shaped by the landscape but also structured to make the most productive use of the small, fragmented areas of better soil in a peat-dominated environment. Climate change alone provides an inadequate explanation for land-use dynamics. A combination of careful site selection, resource management, and social interactions buffered farmers from risks posed by upland conditions, whilst allowing the flexibility to respond to opportunities created by environmental and socio-economic change, particularly during the early Bronze Age, Bronze Age/Iron Age transition, Iron Age and ‘Little Ice Age’. Implications for the perception of upland farming, for the prediction of responses to environmental risk, and for the expected character and survival of archaeological evidence for past upland and mountain-farming systems are evaluated.