Evidence of Early Prehistoric Settlement on Land South-east of Slievh at No. 5 Kilmoluaig, Isle of Tiree.

The watching brief and excavation of a house plot in the north of Tiree revealed evidence, although limited in extent, of a wooden structure, defined by postholes and its possible floor deposit. A small number of hearths together with larger pits including a stone-lined one were also excavated. The environmental samples which included evidence of wild food resources, barley, charcoal from fuel as well as burnt peat, suggested there were two phases of activity at the site – later Neolithic and into the Bronze Age. The typo-technological attributes of the flint artefacts also suggested activity in the later Neolithic/early Bronze Age period, and the few sherds of pottery that survived also indicated use of the site, possibly as early as the middle Neolithic and into the later Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The two radiocarbon dates that were returned from later features suggested a Mesolithic time-frame, indicating the danger of reliance on hazel nutshell for dating purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]