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Mesolithic humans arrived in the Firth of the Clyde during the fourth millennium BC, probably from Ireland.

This was followed by a wave of Neolithic peoples using the same route and there is some evidence that the Firth of Clyde was a significant route via which mainland Scotland was colonised at this time.

A particular style of megalithic structure developed in Argyll, the Clyde estuary and elsewhere in western Scotland that has become known as the Clyde cairn.

They are rectangular or trapezoidal in shape with a small enclosing chamber faced with large slabs of stone set on end and sometimes subdivided into smaller compartments.

A forecourt area may have been used for displays or rituals associated with the internment of the dead, who were placed inside the chambers.

They are concentrated in Arran, Bute and Kintyre and it is likely that the Clyde cairns were the earliest forms of Neolithic monument constructed by incoming settlers although few of the 100 or so examples have been given a radiocarbon dating.

An example at Monamore on Arran has been dated to 3160 BC, although it was almost certainly built earlier than that, possibly c. 4000BC.

There are also numerous standing stones dating from prehistoric times, including six stone circles on Machrie Moor, Arran and other examples on Great Cumbrae and Bute.