After the frenetic pace of discovery at the end of last week a day off on Saturday was very welcome, and saw various members of the team riding horses along the beach, mountain biking, doing their washing or just sleeping. It was the last day off before the end of the dig so a last chance to enjoy all Kintyre has to offer.

Sunday began with a late start, and was our open day at the excavation, and we were really unsure what to expect. Six people arriving on the dot of ten o'clock took us by surprise, but was very satisfying, and much to our delight and surprise by the end of the day we had shown well over 50 visitors around the site. We would like to extend a grateful thanks to all those who braved the showers and came out to see us and made the day such a success. We hope you all had a good time and perhaps learned something about the history and archaeology of the area.

Although the open day was a resounding success, the rate of uncovering finds did slow down a little, but picked up again on Monday. Yet more pottery (of unknown age as yet) emerged, and we have parts of at least seven different pottery vessels now, and will be keeping Rick Peterson, the pottery expert at UCLAN busy for quite a while! We also found a strange little tool of unknown purpose. It is just over an inch long, and seems to be worn to a smooth surface by use, and has a point. We suspect it may be some kind of leather working tool or fid, but have a look at the picture and if you know better please let us know! Monday also saw the discovery of a single, broken, but nonetheless finely made jet bead. This may be Neolithic, but is more likely early Bronze Age, and is significant because jet only occurs on one place in the British Isles, which is near Whitby in Yorkshire. This means the Bronze Age residents of Kintyre must have been in some way in contact with the people of Yorkshire, either directly or via intermediaries, which shows us that the society was not isolated and insular, but looking outward to distant lands and willing and able to exchange goods and probably also ideas. Of course, a jet bead also makes us think of the wonderful jet necklace in Campbeltown museum and another which was found in Campbeltown and is now on display in Inveraray Castle, and we must consider what jet meant to Bronze Age people. A total of ten jet necklaces have been found throughout Scotland, all finely made and constructed from this distant material, and must surely have carried with them some extra value, as a status symbol demonstrating the owner's far off connections and ability to commission fine craftsmanship and carving.

Finally, I would like to remind anyone who may have forgotten that our public lecture will be tomorrow night in the Argyll Arms Hotel, Campbeltown, starting at 8. Please come along and show your support, and learn about all we have discovered in the last 4 weeks of digging.