Mull and its islands have been inhabited since Mesolithic times c. 4000 - 2000 BC. Neolithic farmers lived here, leaving behind burial cairns and stone axes. Bronze age 'Beaker' people lived on the island, their burial cairns, cists, standing stones, stone circles and corded beaker pottery have been discovered. In the Iron Age, forts, brochs, duns and crannogs were built on the island. The early Christian period in the 5th century brought St Columba from Ireland. There were Vikings settlements in the isles. Castles such as Moy and Duart were built in the Middle Ages. The clans associated with the history of Mull were, Maclean, MacKinnon, Macquarrie, and MacDonald. The 17th - 19th centuries saw the clan chiefs and lairds built themselves 'grand' houses, while the ordinary islanders lived in tiny black houses and temporary shielings in the summer. In 1788 Tobermory was built as a planned model village. In 1831 Mull's population was 10,630 but first the potato famine and ... < more >