Isle of Man – island settlers since 6500 BC and the Ronaldsway culture
The Isle of Man became an island around 8000 BC, when rising seas after the last ice age cut it off from its neighbours. People reached it by boat some time before 6500 BC; these first hunter-gatherers and fishermen left tools that are now kept in the Manx Museum.
With the Neolithic came farming and impressive megalithic monuments such as Cashtal yn Ard, King Orry's Grave and Mull Hill, as well as the Ronaldsway culture, unique to the island. Bronze Age burial mounds remained long-lasting markers in the landscape. Today the Isle of Man is a self-governing Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea with its own proud traditions and Manx language. Have a Manx story or legend? Share it with the community!