The island in the loch

Loch Migdale, near Tain in the Scottish Highlands, contains a rocky island that is a suspected crannog, or man-made prehistoric feature. The island and surrounding landscape, which is littered with intriguing lumps and bumps, belongs to Rob Jones and Cara Flanagan who invited Time Team to try to make sense of it all.

The crannog
Excavating underwater, the Team, including crannog expert Nick Dixon, has to carefully remove sections of the rubble mound. These are outlined by scaffold poles, which act as guides for the limits of the trenches. The Team concentrates on two areas – one about a metre underwater on the perimeter of the site, and the other just centimetres beneath the surface on the main crannog platform. Waterlogged samples of timber planks and stakes are discovered, which are later dated to the Iron Age and, together with charcoal and bone finds, indicate settlement activity.

The henge
Further excavation on the shore indicates the site of a small ritual henge monument. Complete with entrance facing the loch, the henge contains a stone marker to align the entrance with a landscape feature in the distance where two hills meet. It was later calculated that this point on the skyline would mark the position of the rising sun on the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Other ritual activity
Excavations on another mound – thought to be a cairn or burial mound – uncovers a small pyramidal structure made of compacted peat and surrounded by white quartz chippings. Prehistoric specialist Francis Pryor is convinced that this is evidence of further ritual activity from the Bronze Age.

Thriving landscape
With so much archaeology in such a small area the Team had their work cut out. After three days of intense excavation, on dry(ish) land and below water, they had uncovered evidence of a fascinating thriving landscape, which had been used for settlement and religion from prehistoric times to the modern day.

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