‘Hugely exciting’ finds on tiny Scottish island shed light on spread of Christianity

Islanders and volunteers have been digging in the early medieval cemetery, where they have discovered the earlier buildings, burial grounds and other finds. Photograph: Robert Hay

To the residents of the Scottish island of Lismore, population 190, history is never very far away. The tiny island near Oban in Argyll has no row of shops or even a pub – if islanders want to meet for a coffee, the only place to do so is in the lively Gaelic heritage centre that records the many centuries of community life on the island.

This quiet place, documentary evidence records, was home to a monastic settlement in the sixth century AD, when missionaries from Ireland were first moving into northern Britain to spread Christianity. But apart from a few fragments of an early carved cross, there was almost nothing to see from this period of history.