IONA, SCOTLAND—The Press and Journal reports that a site believed to have been a prehistoric settlement has been unearthed on the island of Iona. The island is best known for the monastery founded in the sixth century A.D. by the monk Columba, who took refuge there after being exiled from his native Ireland. The new discoveries, made during a survey prior to building an extension of the island’s primary school, include pottery, flints, and other materials that may date back as far as 2,500 years. The excavation, which was led by Clare Ellis of Argyll Archaeology, also unearthed an extension to the island’s medieval wall. “What is most exciting to me is that the lines of the property that exist now are very similar to the property lines that existed more than 2,000 years ago,” said Ellis. To read in-depth about archaeology in Scotland, go to “Neolithic Europe's Remote Heart.”
