EXCAVATION work was due to finish at the weekend on a Stone Age dwelling unearthed at Ronaldsway.
The 8,000-year-old structure, found during construction of the airport runway extension, is believed to be the oldest house ever found in the Isle of Man.
>> Prehistoric dwelling unearthed at Isle of Man Airport13 July 2009An incredible 3,000 years older than Stonehenge, it dates back to the time when the first human settlers returned to the Isle of Man after the end of the Ice Age.
Describing the significance of the find, Manx National Heritage field archaeologist Andrew Johnson said: 'It's a defining moment in an archaeologist's career. Finding a Mesolithic house is like finding the tooth of a hen – you would never think it would happen!'
The site consists of a slight hollow 6-7 metres in diameter with a series of post holes around the outside which would have supported a large wooden structure, possibly in the shape of a wigwam, that would have been home to an extended family.
Archaeologists are unsure whether the dwelling would have been covered with wattle, woven brushwood or perhaps animal skins.
In the hollow they have found evidence of human habitation including hundreds of hazelnut shells, a large quantity of charcoal and no fewer than 13,000 pieces of worked flint.
Mr Johnson said the landscape of the Isle of Man 8,000 years ago would have been very open with a few trees. There was no farming and people constantly moved through the landscape gathering their food from the land.
The occupants of the Stone Age dwelling would have been hunters, catching shellfish, fish, seabirds and wildfowl.
With all the archaeological evidence removed by the team from Oxford Archaeology North, contractors were due to flatten the site at the weekend – hoping there wasn't an even earlier find underneath!
