Evidence of one of Scotland's earliest human populations uncovered

The Herald Scotland

28-04-2025

The stones have been dated to a period known as the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) from around 11,500 to 11,000 years ago.
The wider context of them is yet to be analysed in detail, but were found in sites discovered by Karen Hardy, professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the university and local archaeologist Martin Wildgoose.
Their discovery means the west coast now represents the largest concentration of evidence for these early human populations anywhere in Scotland and show how they ventured much further north than previously believed.
The discoveries have been announced in a paper entitled 'At the far end of everything: A likely Ahrensburgian presence in the far north of the Isle of Skye, Scotland'.
Professor Karen Hardy said: 'This is a hugely significant discovery which offers a new perspective on the earliest human occupation yet known, of north-west Scotland.'
The team included people from the universities of Leeds, Sheffield, Leeds Beckett and Flinders in Australia and they worked together to reconstruct the local landscape and changing sea levels.
The period is immediately after the Younger Dryas, also known as the Loch Lomond Stadial, when much of the west of Scotland was buried under ice.
Groups of nomadic hunter-gathers who were most likely of the Ahrensburgian culture and from Northern Europe, crossed an area now covered by the North Sea known as Doggerland and established themselves on Skye.
Professor Hardy added: '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.'
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When they reached Skye, it is believed they crafted tools from stone found locally and deliberately and strategically chose where to base themselves to have good access to coastal and riverine resources as well as natural materials like Ochre which was highly valued.
The paper concludes by saying: '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.'
The paper adds: 'Recovering evidence for a LUP presence in Scotland presents challenges unmatched in continental Europe. However, despite being distant from its central area, the evidence from Skye reflects an Ahrensburgian presence at the extreme north- west continental limit, extending their distribution.
'The people who made these artefacts originated in the mainland of northwest Europe, crossed Doggerland into what is now Britain, and eventually reached the far north of the Isle of Skye. Here, they adapted to live in a fragmented, fluctuating, and volatile environment amid melting glaciers, mountains, and oceans – vastly different from the low-lying environments of their homelands on the northwestern edge of the Great European Plain.'