At this time, it is also likely that settlements on artificial islands within lochs, known as crannogs, were also in use. While there are numerous fortified dun sites throughout the island and especially on the coast edge, the period of their construction and use is little known, although it is probable that a proportion are of Iron Age date.įurther work will be required to determine if some of these sites were used as settlements or if they served exclusively for defensive purposes, such as look out positions. The only known broch site on the island is located at Dun Bhoraraic near Ballygrant. The Iron Age on Islay, extending from the mid first millennium BC to the mid first millennium AD, is poorly researched. A few chance finds of bronze artefacts are recorded from Islay, although little is known of the context from which they came. Several cist burials have been excavated at Ardnave (Ritchie & Welfare, 1983) and a probable funerary pyre was excavated by the authors during the course of the coastal survey (Moore & Wilson, forthcoming). Not only is there a change in burial practice, from burial within communal tombs to individual burial in cists, but this is also the time when metal working technology and metal goods arrived on the Island. While seven such tombs are known on Islay, none lie within the coastal zone.įrom the mid-second millennium BC onward, the archaeological record indicates social and cultural changes occurring. The Neolithic chambered cairn tombs found on Islay are part of a group known as the Clyde tombs and would have contained a long narrow passage with a chamber to one end. A Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age round house dating from around 2000 BC, excavated at Ardnave (Ritchie & Welfare, 1983) was found to contain food vessel type pottery and a wide range of stone tools. Often, sites of this period first become visible through the exposure of middens, the accumulated refuse generated within settlements. The remains of their houses and tombs are scattered throughout the island. Remains such as those found at Kilellan (Burgess, 1976) and Newton (MacCullagh, 1989) indicate that the buildings of this period were rough shelters dug into the sand.Īs the climate improved, the fertile lands of Islay attracted the first farmers to come and settle. Occupation at this time may have been of a seasonal nature, taking advantage of the rich wild game and coastal food resources. Many of these finds can be seen at the Museum of Islay Life in Port Charlotte. Chance finds of several distinctive Mesolithic flint tools and working debris, together with shell middens and occasional structural remains, indicate that Islay was occupied from at least as early as 8000 BC.
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