ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on a routine survey of a Scottish hillside have uncovered a treasure chest of historic artefacts dating back 6000 years.

The find was made during preparatory work for a new housing development in Oban and is the biggest of its kind in mainland Argyll in recent years.

It includes a Stone Age or Neolithic axehead, dating back 5000-6000 years, three prehistoric roundhouses which are up to 3000 years old, and the remains of an 18th-century farmstead and metalwork store.

Oban Bay has provided food and shelter to mankind since the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, 5000 to 10,000 years ago. Evidence of early cave dwellers has been found at several sites in the town centre near the Oban Distillery – around which the modern town grew in the 18th century.

Other finds include a hoard of 3000-year-old stone tools, hundreds of fragments of Bronze Age and an assortment of Georgian pottery.

Dr Clare Ellis, of Argyll Archaeology, was commissioned to survey the site at Glenshellach, on the outskirts of Oban, by local house builder M and K MacLeod.

She said: “It’s exciting, the site is unusual because the excavation of domestic prehistoric sites in Argyll is very rare.”

The roundhouses, a variety of artefacts and an old metalwork store – identified because of traces of molten iron – were hidden under the grass-covered hillside.

Dr Ellis said: “All you could see on site when we first did an evaluation was the main ruin of the farmstead. The roundhouses were under the grass and the soil.

“We have got three roundhouses that are prehistoric and two of them could be anything from Bronze Age to Iron Age.”

She added: “We found the Neolithic axehead in the 18th-century farmstead, which we are currently excavating. It was among the rubble in the barn and is quite a rare find. It’s a stone axehead and it’s highly polished, for ceremonial use, not practical use, these were prestige items and they had a ritual significance.

“We think whoever lived at the farmstead has found it in the fields and has thought, ‘We will keep that.’”

Before the development of the distillery, Oban consisted of just a few houses for shipbuilders and a small quarry, but at the end of the 18th century it began shipping alcohol, wool, slate and seaweed to larger ports such as Glasgow and Liverpool and the town began its rapid expansion.

However, evidence of its ancient origins is not hard to find. Oban’s oldest existing building, former MacDougall stronghold Dunollie Castle, has Bronze Age foundations.

The archaeologists also found lots of little hammer stones and 3000-year-old wet stones for grinding corn, smashing up vegetative matter, or lichens and seaweed for dyes. A clay pipe also unearthed during the operation may be Dutch and have been imported into Oban between 1760-1820.

Because of its size the experts believe one of the houses may have belonged to a chieftain.

Dr Ellis said: “It is believed that one of roundhouses may have belonged to a VIP, as it is 14 metres in diameter – huge when compared with the average size of prehistoric houses.

Dr Ellis said: “It may be Iron Age, but it could be Bronze Age. If it’s Bronze Age it will be a really, really exciting find because of its size.”

Once the excavations are finished in the largest building, charcoal from the hearth will be carbon-dated to determine its exact age.

Kenny MacLeod, of M and K MacLeod which is developing affordable homes at the site, said “We are keen to look after the archaeology in the area. Things like this are important for the area and the community in general.”

The builder has said there will be an open day at the site today to give the public a chance to view the area.