The Moment of Discovery

In the year 2000, rabbits were the proximate cause of one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in recent Scottish prehistory.

Their burrowing through the soil near Loch Borralie disturbed bones that had lain undisturbed for two thousand years, bringing fragments of Iron Age human remains to the surface where local people noticed them and reported the discovery to the appropriate authorities.

This is not an unusual mechanism for archaeological discovery.