Archaeologists reveal wooden secret beneath ancient stone island

An ancient artificial island in a loch on the Isle of Lewis was built entirely on a wooden platform, archaeologists have discovered. From above, the Neolithic island - or crannog - in Loch Bhorgastail appears to be made of stone, though it was known that there was some timber underneath it. However, researchers from the University of Southampton carried out an excavation and have revealed that wood was used to support the whole structure. The group dated their findings between 3500 and 3300 BC - around the early Bronze Age - and said the technique would have been used at other nearby sites throughout the Outer Hebrides. University of Southampton archaeologist, Dr Stephanie Blankshein, said: "When we actually started excavating is when we realised that it was actually this coherent, quite large timber structure that was under what you would see as the stone island today. "While we still don't know exactly why these islands were built, the resources and labour required to construct them suggests not only complex communities capable of such feats, but also the great significance of these sites." As well as the layered wood and brushwood construction under the stone, archaeologists fou