A rare, prehistoric wicker basket – thought to be up to 4,000 years old – has been saved from destruction following a race to recover it from the sea.
The oval-shaped woven basket was exposed on Baleshare Beach in North Uist following recent storms.
Believed to date from the Bronze Age, the important ancient artefact is believed to be one of best preserved treasures of its kind found in Scotland.
The basket completely vanished when this week’s gales dumped a thick covering of sand all over the shore.
But tall, red-coloured poles originally marking the spot peeked through the ebbing tide allowing delighted searchers from AOC Archaeology to find the basket on Thursday.
But it was too heavy to dig it out within a large slab of sediment to preserve it.
With the tide coming in, an islander rushed home to get his tractor. He drove onto the shore and volunteers lifted the block of wet sand into the tractor shovel.
The historic artefact which was discovered by Rodger Auger just days ago.
Mr Auger said: “Normally the area is hidden under the sand.
“I saw a bone sticking out and then the pile of white quartz crystals.”
He added: “I knew it would be an exciting find as there is an Iron Age wheelhouse nearby.”
Archaeologists from Western Isles Council have been in talks with Historic Scotland over the best way to save the basket.
Western Isles Council archaeologist Deborah Anderson said: “Its good news. We have found the basket and lifted it out of the sand.”
She praised the local community for “being so supportive.”
Ms Anderson said: “It was far too heavy and really difficult to lift so one local went and got his tractor and we managed to get it into its bucket.”
She added: “It is quite rare to come across something like this.
“It was a race against the tide to get it out and quite a challenge to recover it.”
She said: “Tide times meant we were working in a very short timeframe and the trenches we dug filled up fast with seawater. It was a very difficult situation.”
The basket will now be taken to a conservation laboratory for analysis.