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The Adabrock Hoard
When Donald Murray from Adabrock was cutting his peats in May 1910, in what is now the Eorodale Park (An t-Slugaid), he found a group of objects which proved to be of great significance.
The find comprised: three razors, an axehead, a gouge, a hammerhead, a chisel, a spearhead, two whetstones, gold glass and amber beads and fragments of bronze sheet.
 
The tools and weapons were made of bronze and archaeologists tell us that they were made before 750 BC, during the Bronze Age. What Donald Murray discovered was one of the most important finds from the Bronze Age in Scotland. The items are now displayed in the National Museums of Scotland, in Edinburgh.
 
The Aird Dell Swords
Murdo Maciver of Aird Dell found two Bronze Age swords while digging his croft in August 1891 and February 1892. The complete one was 24 inches in length and the other was a fragment which was 93/4 inches long. They were probably made between 700 and 800 BC and could have been buried along with a Bronze Age warrior. They are now held in the National Museums of Scotland.
 
Dìobadal Silver Hoard
This comprised two silver finger rings and three arm rings which were found under peat in Dìobadal, South Dell, in 1938. They were buried during the Viking Period in the 10th or 11th Century AD. As well as being used as jewellery, arm rings were also cut up or 'hacked' during this period and used as a form of money. These items are presently on show in the National Museums of Scotland.
 
Galson Enamel Mount
Frank Rennie found this decorated bronze object (diameter 30mm) at Galson Beach in 1985. Archaeologists tell us that it could be one of the decorations from a leather strap of a horse's harness and is probably around a thousand years old. Similar items have been found in other parts of the Scandinavian World in graves which contained a horse and its master and a chariot or cart. The original colours would have been red and yellow and it has a Celtic triskele pattern on the front. It is now displayed at Museum nan Eilean in Stornoway.
 

     
Iron Age Pot or Craggan from Galson
This clay pot was found by John Russell of Galson Farmhouse on Galson Beach in the late 1980s. The pot, which is around eight inches tall, was made from local clay and was probably fired on a household fire. It was found lying beside a skeleton buried in a single grave. It was made during the Iron Age, between 200 BC and 400 AD. It was simply decorated, as is typical of this period, with chevrons under the neck. Craggans continued to be made in Barvas until around 1935. This one is on show in Museum nan Eilean.
 

 
  Dun Eistean
Recently there has been enormous interest in the small island fortress of Dun Eistean - the ancestral seat of the Clan Morrison.  Following preliminary survey work carried out in 199-2000, funding has recently been secured for a more comprehensive survey of the site, with work scheduled to commence in the summer of 2005.

For further details about this fascinating site, please visit the the Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) website.