Montserrat island "Santa María de Montserrate", after the Virgin of Montserrat in the Monastery of Montserrat, on Montserrat mountain, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. "Montserrat" means "serrated mountain" in Catalan. Archaeological field work in 2012, in Montserrat's Centre Hills indicated there was an Archaic (pre-Arawak) occupation between 4000 and 2500 BP. Later coastal sites show the presence of the Saladoid culture. In November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat in his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs. A number of Irishmen settled in Montserrat in 1632. The preponderance of Irish in the
Museum of Montserrat is a painting by Sean Scully dating to 2010. The sarcophagus forms part of the Archaeology of the Biblical East Collection, along with other objects from the cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, the Holy Land and Cyprus. There is also an exhibition devoted to the Iconography of Our Lady of Montserrat, which traces the changing way in which the Virgin has been represented in art over the centuries. Since 2006 the Museum of Montserrat has a new section: a collection of about 160 Byzantine and Slavic icons that is titled Phos Hilaron (joyful light). These icons presented on the environment