The remains of a pre-historic dwelling older than Stonehenge or the Callanish Stones have been found in a field in East Ayrshire.
Archaeologists believe the site near Kilmarnock is 6,000-years-old and was settled as man moved away from nomadic existence towards farming the land.
The discovery has been described as one of the most important of its kind in recent years.
Excavations have unearthed a number of post-holes which formed part of a rectangular building and fragments of Neolithic carinated bowl, used for cooking and storage.
It is thought that they date to around 4000 BC.
The rectilinear hall, which measured 14m in length and 8m in width, belonged to a type of house built by the first farming communities in Scotland. Read more.
