Prehistoric habitation of the local area is known through archaeological sites such as Balbridie. Roman legions marched from Raedykes to nearby Normandykes as they sought higher ground evading the bogs of Red Moss and other low-lying mosses associated with the Burn of Muchalls. That march used the Elsick Mounth, one of the ancient trackways crossing the Grampian Mountains; the situation of the Elsick Mounth terminating at a ford to the River Dee is thought to have been instrumental in the strategic siting of Drum Castle as a point to monitor traffic on the Elsick Mounth lying west of Netherley.