Kingdom of the Isles art found on Islay was found in 1838. , today an uninhabited peninsula to the south of the Cuillin hills on Skye, contains the small , which is connected to the sea by a short artificial canal. This loch was an important site for maritime activity for many centuries, spanning the Viking and later periods of Scottish clan rule. There is a stone-built quay and a system to maintain constant water levels. Boat timbers discovered there have been dated to the 12th century. Only three rune stones are known from the west coast of Scotland, on Christian memorials found on
Cuillin the summits had no recorded name prior to this period, although names for corries and other features were in existence. Many of the summits are thus named after early climbers such as John MacKenzie (Sgùrr MhicChoinnich), Alexander Nicolson (Sgùrr Alasdair), and Norman Collie (Sgúrr Thormaid). The Cuillin now consists of two estates divided by Glen Sligachan. The hills on the west side of Glen Sligachan (the Black Cuillin) remained the property of Clan MacLeod despite the long history of conflict between them and Clan MacDonald. The earliest formal record of MacLeod ownership was in a land grant from the Crown