COULTORSAY, SCOTLAND—According to a report in The National, traces of an early medieval iron smelting workshop belonging to the early Scots kingdom of Dál Riata have been uncovered on the island of Islay by researchers from GUARD Archaeology. The building was used to smelt bog ore to extract iron bloom for making tools and weapons between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. Metalworking waste, the upper part of a rotary quern for grinding grain, a bone needle, and shale bracelet fragments were also unearthed at the site. The shale bracelets are thought to have been made in central Scotland. An earlier Pictish-style domestic building shaped like a figure eight was found beneath the workshop. “Indeed, it is easy to imagine the early medieval landscape of Islay characterized more by slight buildings such as this, where the majority of the population resided,” explained archaeologist Maureen Kilpatrick. To read about the political landscape of ninth-century Britain, go to "Secrets of Scotland's Viking Age Hoard."
