9000BC - O chionn aon mhìle deug bliadhna – 11,000 years ago

The story of the Uig environment over the last 11,000 years, is of a mobile, changing landscape. The last glaciers retreated over ten millennia ago, leaving behind bare rock, shaped by the incredible weight and pressure of the ice. Large heaps of boulders and pebbles, often interspersed with sand and clay, impounded by many fresh water lochs.

The improving climate and warmer temperatures enabled mosses and lichens to grow on the bare glacial soils. Plants and shrubs and eventually scrubby trees followed. Pollen analysis shows that 8,500 years ago there was hazel, birch and pine in the area.