GLASGOW, SCOTLAND—A 15-year investigation conducted by the University of Glasgow has uncovered the stronghold of Clan Morrison on Dùn Èistean, an island surrounded by sheer cliffs in the Western Isles of Scotland. Among the recovered artifacts are gun flints dating to the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries that had been manufactured on the island. It had been thought that gun flints were first used there in the mid to late seventeenth century. Pottery and coins indicate that the residents had contact with maritime trade routes, and they may have even policed the passing sea traffic from the highly visible island. “Through the combination of archaeological survey and excavation, together with detailed historical research, we have been able to tell the story of the development and use of the stronghold and gain insight into its participation in the wider Gaelic world in the 1500s and early 1600s,” Rachel Barrowman of the University of Glasgow told Culture 24. To read in-depth about archaeology in Scotland, go to "Neolithic Europe's Remote Heart."
