Editing Benbecula (section)

===Early history===

[[File:Loch Ba Una - geograph.org.uk - 570971.jpg|thumb|Loch Ba Una{{refn|group="note"|The chambered cairns are located beyond the Loch.<!--of which there isn't a picture in commons!!!-->}}]]
A number of standing stones from the [[Neolithic]] period are scattered throughout the island, including the remains of a [[stone circle]] at Rubha Bhidein, adjacent to the traditional ford to [[Grimsay]].{{refn|group="note"|The modern causeway lands adjacent to the ford<!--yet there isn't a photograph of the circle in commons!-->}} In addition to these, the remains of two [[chambered cairn]]s lie between Loch Ba Una, and Loch nan Clachan. A [[Beaker People|Beaker]] site has been identified a Rossinish.

[[File:Loch Dùn Mhurchaidh - geograph.org.uk - 659531.jpg|thumb|left|Loch Dùn Mhurchaidh; Dun Buidhe is on the larger island in the distance.<!--again, there isn't a closer picture!!-->]]
The island is rich in built remains from the Iron Age, though they are generally in poor condition. A number of small [[Dun (fortification)|island forts]] can be found throughout Benbecula, particularly on [[Loch Olabhat]], but the most substantial is Dun Buidhe, near [[Balivanich]], which has a series of causeways linking it to the loch shore, via Eilean Dubh (''Black Island''); a [[Wheelhouse (archaeology)|wheelhouse]] was also present nearby{{refn|group="note"|The airport runway now lies on top of it}} (a better preserved wheelhouse survives on the adjacent island of Grimsay), at which Iron Age pottery was found.

At the shore near Dun Buidhne was found a Class 1 [[Pictish stone|Pictish symbol stone]], inscribed with two basic symbols<ref>{{Canmore|num=10189|desc=Benbecula, Strome Shunnamal}}</ref>{{refn|group="note"|The stone is now located in the Edinburgh [[Museum of Scotland]], ([https://i.pinimg.com/736x/40/3c/ee/403cee123bb89796d7ee37d306c1b77f--pre-history-a-rectangle.jpg as seen here]<!--there isn't an image in "Category:Pictish Stones at the Museum of Scotland" in commons, though-->)}} one of the only indications anywhere in the Outer Hebrides that [[Pict]]s had been present. Traditional accounts claim that [[Saint Ternan|Ternan]], an Irish missionary of the late 5th/early 6th century, established a chapel to the south of Dun Buidhe, from which he sought to convert the Picts to Christianity; Balivanich takes its name from this supposed establishment.