The weather this morning was blustery and changeable, and we continued to remove the grass and turf from the largest trench.

In September 2017, I excavated for two weeks at a rock art site in central Scotland, as reported in this Journal. One year on, and our small team is back to continue our investigations.

Clauchlands and Corriegills are well-known as places where high quality pitchstone occurs. Even though it remains uncertain exactly where this stone was quarried in prehistory, I was very keen to visit this landscape. On my last day in Arran, this proved to be the place where the striking colours of the island finally converged.

A visit to the Neolithic chambered cairn known as Torylin, on the southern coastline of Arran.

A walk into the sky to explore the stony world on the summit of Goatfell, including a search for pitchstone.

Today, I explored the west coast of Arran, starting at an unusual monument before exploring the coastline. Here are a group of impressive caves, sources of pitchstone and a distinctive headland with a standing stone.

Today, I visited three Neolithic chambered cairns.

Arran was the source of an extraordinary raw material used by people in the Neolithic: pitchstone. During my visit, I was very interested to explore the origins of this unusual material. One location where it outcrops is high in the mountains.

My first visit to the Isle of Arran! Although I have seen the island many times, I had never had the opportunity to visit its famous landscape and prehistoric monuments.

In the midst of a heatwave we backfill the two remaining trenches.

It is our final day of excavation and various tasks have to be completed before the trenches can be filled. Stan Beckensall visits.

Work continues towards the conclusion of the excavation in a couple of days time.

Trenches 1 and 3 take centre stage with new motifs and stone deposits.

Today, the site is visited by a specialist to assess its potential for Optically-Stimulated Luminescence dating. On the theme of light, I also make some observations about the qualities of tree shadows on this sunny day.

On the sixth day day there are significant developments in Trench 1, with more rock art being revealed and the discovery of some very distinctive artefacts which may have been used to carve the motifs.

Trench 1 begins to reveal some exciting features.

On the fourth day of the project we continue work on all the active trenches. 

The plan today is to open three new trenches to investigate the boulders which display carvings.

Day two of the project has dawned overcast but dry. We continue work investigating the mound to see if there is any evidence for it having been constructed.

The first day of excavations to investigate the remarkable Neolithic carvings at Copt Howe, in the Lake District.