Archaeologists announced the discovery of an entire Iron Age village on an until-now unexamined site on the west bank of Loch Lomond (Highland, Scotland).
     A team from the West of Scotland Archaeology Service and a research unit at Glasgow University have spent months digging and sifting through soil at the site, which is being cleared for a golf course and leisure development. Among their finds is a pre-Christian Iron Age glass bead described as "a national treasure". The bead has "a beautiful swirled design" of which only one other example exists in Scotland.
     A spokesman for the West of Scotland Archaeology Service said: "The investigations have revealed an unprecedented concentration of previously unknown archaeological sites. The Iron Age village dates from around 100 BCE, while digs on the site, have revealed three small Bronze Age urn cemeteries dating from around 1800 BCE and an early Christian burial site.
     A spokeswoman for the Trossachs National Park Authority (NPA) said: "As part of the planning agreement between the developers and the National Park Authority, the West of Scotland Archaeology Service specified a programme of archaeological investigations. Glasgow University archaeological research division was commissioned by the De Vere Group to survey and monitor the site as it is being cleared. The exercise has so far proved to be incredibly rewarding. No evidence of any Iron Age village, Christian burial site or urn cemetery had previously been recorded.

Source: The Scotsman (9 October 2004)