The Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides are a chain of Islands off the west coast of Scotland also known as the Western Isles.
The Outer Hebrides main Islands are the Isle of Lewis, Great Bernera, Isle of Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay and the Isle of Barra.
The island of Lewis and Harris being the 3rd largest landmass in the United Kingdom.
The islands have a unique climate as they benefit from the Gulf Stream it is much warmer here than mainland Scotland. The Islands also benefit from the high latitude, which gives long summer days and a chance of seeing the Northern Lights in the darker months.
If your interest is archaeology, you will not be disappointed. A guide is recommended to seek out the less well-known sites, which are often not marked and easy to miss.
There is an abundance of flora and fauna to be observed with a variety of habitats and spectacular landscapes to photograph.
The Outer Hebrides has a wealth of archaeology to explore.
- Mesolithic: c.7060-4500BC (middens mainly shells)
- Neolithic: c.4500-2500BC (chambered cairns, stone circles & stone settings)
- Early Bronze Age: c.2500-1200BC (cairns, kerb cairns, cremation burials & single standing stones)
- Middle to Late Bronze Age: c.1200-300BC (cairns, kerb cairns, cremation burials & single standing stones)
- Iron Age: c.300BC – 400AD (Brochs, Duns & Wheelhouse)
- Pictish period: c.400-900AD (small square cairns & inscribed stones)
- Viking period: c.795-1266AD (longhouse & large mounds/middens)
- Medieval period: c.1266-1700AD (Chapels)
- Crofting period: c.1700 – modern time (Blackhouse, rigs, 2nd World War sites)