170 neighbors crowdfunded a dig. The ground proved them right.

Lismore Island, a nine-mile strip in the Inner Hebrides with about 170 residents, has been confirmed as one of the earliest centers of Christian evangelism in the British Isles. The Lismore Historical Society launched the dig, and a sizable share of the island crowdfunded it, which is a lot of neighbors agreeing to pay someone to dig up a field. They were rewarded. Excavations near the 13th-century cathedral turned up burial grounds, early buildings and roughly 1,000 pieces of debris pointing to precious-metal work, with small crucibles once used to melt copper and silver. Six burials dated between 650 and 1040 CE lay among carved stone cross fragments. "We can now see that it was a thriving center of worship, craftsmanship and learning," said Professor Gordon Noble of the University of Aberdeen. Lios Mòr was founded by Saint Mo Luóc in the 6th century. The records always said it mattered. Now the ground agrees.