Archaeologists find evidence of 'some of earliest humans in Scotland' in island dig

EVIDENCE of “one of the earliest human populations yet known in Scotland” has been found on the Isle of Skye.

Stone tools found on the island off the west coast date back to around 9500-9000 years ago – the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP), experts believe.

Discoveries also include an “enigmatic group of stone circular structures” which appear to be below modern-day sea level. 

Local archaeologist Martin Wildgoose and Karen Hardy, a professor of prehistoric archaeology at Glasgow University, made the discoveries which confirm that early humans ventured further north than previously thought.

The finds have been announced in a paper – At the far end of everything: A likely Ahrensburgian presence in the far north of the Isle of Skye, Scotland – published in The Journal of Quaternary Science.

Professor Hardy said: “This is a hugely significant discovery which offers a new perspective on the earliest human occupation yet known of north-west Scotland.”

An 'enigmatic' stone circle identified on Skye (Image: Jamie Booth) The team, from the universities of Leeds, Sheffield, Leeds Beckett and Flinders in Australia, worked together to reconstruct the local landscape and changing sea levels. 

During this period, which is immediately after the Younger Dryas (also known as the Loch Lomond Stadial), when much of west Scotland was buried under ice, groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers most likely of the Ahrensburgian culture from northern Europe, crossed Doggerland, an area that is now covered by the North Sea, and established themselves on Skye.

Ahrensburg was a late Paleolithic culture of reindeer hunters in northern Europe, known for their distinctive tanged flint points and mobile way of life as the Ice Age ended.

The ancient stone tools found on the Isle of Skye (Image: Karen Hardy) Hardy went on: “The journey made by these pioneering people who left their lowland territories in mainland Europe to travel northwards into the unknown is the ultimate adventure story.

“As they journeyed northwards, most likely following animal herds, they eventually reached Scotland, where the western landscape was dramatically changing as glaciers melted and the land rebounded as it recovered from the weight of the ice. 

“A good example of the volatility they would have encountered can be found in Glen Roy, where the world-famous Parallel Roads provide physical testament to the huge landscape changes and cataclysmic floods that they would have encountered as they travelled across Scotland.”

Professor Karen Hardy (Image: Supplied) Wildgoose and Hardy’s paper states: “While the number of Ahrensburgian findspots is low, they are spread widely across Scotland, including from the islands of Tiree, Orkney and Islay, that also imply significant sea journeys, suggesting a larger population than the number of finds might imply. 

“To date, all Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) sites in Scotland have been discovered by chance, and there is insufficient evidence to address further questions regarding their adaptations and lifestyles. 

“By reconstructing the geographical limitations imposed by ice sheet evolution, changes in Relative Sea Level (RSL) and river courses, it may be possible to focus on other likely locations – both onshore and offshore – and begin to uncover more evidence.” 

Glasgow University said the exact location of the sites was not open to visitors, but that Sconser, on Skye, would provide an idea of how the landscape looked when those early settlers were alive.