Diver discovers 5,500-year-old cup in loch mud

A FORMER Royal Navy diver has discovered a 5,500-year-old cup hidden in the mud of a loch in the Outer Hebrides.

Archaeologists are said to be “very excited” over the find, which could provide clues to the lives of the mysterious early islanders.

The almost-complete cup was found on the Isle of Lewis on Friday by

Chris Murray.

The location has been kept secret at this stage, but Mr Murray described it as “a beautiful example” of the Neolithic age and had been the first person to drink from it in thousands of years.

Mr Murray has previously discovered similar bowls around mysterious man-made islands in the Outer Hebrides that have led to a “startling” re-writing of history.

The structures, known as crannogs, are more than 1,000 years older than Egypt’s pyramids and were built before Stonehenge.

Of the latest find, Mr Murray, from Stornoway, said: “It is the cup of our ancestors, a very ancient early Neolithic bowl or drinking vessel around 5,500 years old.

“And, yes, I did take a sip of water from it. To think the last person to hold this and put it to their lips was thousands of years ago was just incredible.

“Unlike my previous finds, it is undecorated, but to think it is older than Stonehenge, Callanish and the pyramids is fantastic.”