RESEARCH REVEALS A BUILD OLDER THAN STONEHENGE

A remarkable discovery sheds new light on ancient artificial islands from the Early Bronze Age

- Dixe Wills

Researchers have uncovered an intriguing detail about a Neolithic artificial island in the Western Isles.

The island – known as a crannog – was believed to have been built of stone. However, thanks to a recent excavation, archaeologists have discovered that it was constructed on a platform made entirely of wood in the Early Bronze Age.

University of Southampton’s Dr Stephanie Blankshein says: “When we started excavating we realised that it was actually this coherent, quite large timber structure that was under what you would see as the stone island today.”