Excavations at Ardnave, Islay

Abstract

This paper describes the excavation of a series of structures discovered in the sand-dunes at Ardnave, Islay, between 1977 and 1980. The earliest structure was a house, probably of several periods, associated with food-vessel pottery. Subsequently the house was covered by blown sand, but later occupation was attested by midden material, also with food vessels, overlying the earlier building. There were also two hearths of late Iron Age date, one of which was overlain by traces of spade cultivation. The excavation offers useful structural, cultural and economic information about Islay in the second millennium BC and in the early first millennium AD.