Great Bernera lies in Loch Roag on the north-west coast of Lewis and is linked to it by a road bridge.
In 1993 a great winter storm reconfigured the beach at Bostadh, revealing substantial stonework within the sand dunes where gradually eroding middens had long been observed. Eventually this threatened site was excavated in 1996, and a series of well preserved houses, some virtually intact, were brought to light. Four houses were represented, although the village had probably once extended right across the present beach. The main settlement was occupied around the 6th-9th centuries AD (a period described variously as Late Iron Age, or Pictish-period), and comprised a cluster of semi-sunken circular or cellular buildings, each with a rectangular central hearth and at least one smaller chamber opposite the main entrance.
The vulnerable excavated structures themselves could not be preserved, and although a footprint of the village has been laid out, the processes of erosion and sand build-up are as dynamic as ever. However, a reconstruction has been built on more secure ground slightly further up the valley.
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