Fig. 1

Location of Quoyloo Meadow and sediment analysis. A Map highlighting the location of Quoyloo Meadow, on the Orkney Islands. B Composite image of the extracted core and magnetic susceptibility results of core A. Note the peak in magnetic susceptibility identified at 255 cm, which corresponds with a black band present in the sediment at the same depth. ¹⁴C radiocarbon dates from Bunting [18], are indicated with a star at equivalent sediment depths. Ages are reported in cal yr BP. C Example images of sediment core sub-sampling; Top panel, image demonstrating how the sediment core was sub-sampled; Centre panel, image showing how extracted sub-samples were transferred to a lysis tube; Lower panel, image displaying all 5 sub-sampling locations within an individual sediment horizon