Rare finds of well-preserved ironworking hearths or furnaces have been uncovered at Beechwood (Inverness, Scotland), as well as evidence of activity stretching back to the Neolithic period. Examinations of Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery fragments, quern stones for grinding grain, and significant quantities of iron slag are still in the early stages.
     A spokesman for Edinburgh-based AOC Archaeology said: "Radiocarbon dates from charcoal found in pits and postholes associated with the iron slag suggest that this activity took place between 400 and 100 BCE, making it Iron Age in date." He added: "This new discovery is just one of an increasing number of ironworking sites in the area found over the last 15 years which is leading experts to speculate that north east Scotland may have been an important focal area for iron production in later prehistory."

Edited from BBC News (15 July 2012)