Latest news with #LateUpperPaleolithic
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Ultimate adventure story': Submerged stone circles reveal perilous migration of prehistoric people to far northern Scotland 11,000 years ago
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The discovery of submerged stone circles and Stone Age tools on the Isle of Skye reveals that humans occupied what is now northern Scotland about 11,000 years ago. The finding indicates that these people braved a volatile landscape of glaciers and fluctuating coastlines in northern Scotland, venturing much farther north than experts once believed. "This is a hugely significant discovery which offers a new perspective on the earliest human occupation yet known, of north-west Scotland," Karen Hardy, a prehistoric archaeologist at the University of Glasgow, said in a statement. Hardy and colleagues published a study of two archaeological sites on the Isle of Skye in the Journal of Quaternary Science in April. Until recently, little was known about the earliest settlements in Scotland, due to factors such as sea-level rise and the lack of organic remains to radiocarbon-date archaeological sites there, the researchers noted in the study. But Hardy and colleagues' discovery of numerous stone tools shaped into points, blades and scrapers in a style called Ahrensburgian — which was in use across north-central Europe during the Late Upper Paleolithic — has provided evidence that hunter-gatherers made their way across the forbidding Isle of Skye coastline more than 11,000 years ago. Related: Was it a stone tool or just a rock? An archaeologist explains how scientists can tell the difference The researchers also found several stone circles between 10 and 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in diameter in the tidal area of a second archaeological site. Boulders measuring roughly 1.6 feet (0.5 m) in diameter were embedded in the clay bottom of the beach to form a circle. Because of sea-level rise, these stone circles "are only visible at the extreme spring tides and are exposed around 2-3 hours per year," they wrote in the study, but the circles were likely terrestrial features when they were constructed. By estimating the timing of glacier retreat and sea-level rise, the researchers determined that the only time these stone circles could have been created would have been around 11,000 years ago, during a period of volatile climate change as the glaciers rapidly melted at the end of the last ice age. This time frame fits with similar stone circles found in Norway that have been dated to 11,000 to 10,500 years ago and are thought to be the remains of a hide-covered tent or hut, the team said. Around the same time, the lower sea level also would have opened up a land bridge or terrestrial corridor between the southern part of the Isle of Skye and mainland Scotland. Ancient people likely would have used this passageway when migrating northwest from what are today Germany and Belgium. Today, this swath of land connecting Great Britain to continental Europe is known as Doggerland, but it's now under the North Sea. RELATED STORIES —2 Stone Age circles discovered on English moorland may have been part of a 'sacred arc' —Ancient stone circles in Norway were hiding a dark secret: dozens of children's graves —Nabta Playa: A mysterious stone circle that may be the world's oldest astronomical observatory "To reach north-west Scotland would have involved complex travel across unfamiliar terrain, comprising steep mountains and large bodies of water," the researchers wrote, possibly in pursuit of deer and other large mammals. Living in Skye 11,000 years ago required ancient people to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing climate and environment, according to the researchers. But the abundant stone tools and curious circles suggest a decent-sized group of people stuck it out for the long term and settled into their new coastal life. "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," Hardy said.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Hugely Significant' Stone Circles in Scotland Suggest Early Human Arrival
Recently discovered stone tools and circular structures on the Isle of Skye suggest humans from the Old Stone Age traveled all the way to the frigid northwest edge of Scotland. This boundary-pushing endeavor took early humans in northern Europe to the "far end of everything", according to a new paper from an international team of archaeologists. "This is a hugely significant discovery which offers a new perspective on the earliest human occupation yet known, of north-west Scotland," says lead author and archaeologist Karen Hardy from the University of Glasgow. "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." Until recently, there hadn't been any clear evidence of a human population in Scotland before the Holocene, the current geological epoch that began about 11,700 years ago. Even when earlier artifacts began to pop up, it was assumed that the inhospitable climate would have only allowed for visiting humans, not a sustained population. But the new study suggests humans arrived – and settled – earlier than we give them credit for. Hardy and colleagues have based their conclusions on a collection of stone tools and circle structures found on the Isle of Skye in the last eight years. Unfortunately, no radiocarbon-datable material has been recovered, so the exact timing of human arrival is unknown. Still, there are some important clues in the details. The ancient baked mudstone tools found on Skye have complex features that resemble artifacts from continental Europe in the Late Upper Paleolithic, specifically those of Ahrensburg culture, argue Hardy and colleagues. Ahrensburg-like tools have been found on some other isles and islands in Scotland, but never this far north and never in such abundance. The number of artifacts made from local materials on Skye "indicate either a reasonably sized population or long-term occupation", the team of archaeologists argue. What's more, archeologists have uncovered several stone circles, between 3 and 5 meters (10 and 16 feet) in diameter, in a large tidal flat in the center of the Isle. Long ago, when Scotland was icier, this tidal flat would have existed above sea level. Today, the stone circles are only visible for around two to three hours per year, when the extreme spring tides arrive. At other times, archaeologists have had to snorkel. Even during the lowest tide, digging into the waterlogged sandy bottom made it very difficult to measure definitive sediment layers for dating. Based on some climate modeling, however, this tidal flat was above sea level roughly 11,000 years ago. For the last 10,000 years, the sites of the stone circles have been covered by water, meaning they were most likely built before then. What's more, other similar stone circles, found across the sea in Norway, were radiocarbon-dated to between roughly 10,400 and 11,000 years ago. "The similarity between these circular alignments and those at Sconser is remarkable and supports the interpretation of a Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene age," write Hardy and colleagues. Experts disagree on when the Ahrensburg culture came and went, but some studies suggest it existed as recently as 10,500 years ago. There is also evidence of Ahrensburgian-like artifacts from this time in what is now southern England. Today, the Isle of Skye is connected to the mainland by a human-made bridge. During the Upper Paleolithic, however, when ice sheets in the region were expanding, there may have been a land bridge or very narrow crossing, less than 300 meters wide. This could have been walkable to Old Stone Age humans during spring tides. During this time, however, the western margins of Scotland would have been cold and inhospitable. The authors of the recent archaeological analysis suspect the earliest humans came to Skye after the ice sheets had already begun to recede. "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," hypothesizes Hardy. "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." Without reliable radiocarbon dating it's hard to say much about when these cultures arrived. Hardy and colleagues admit this is a limitation, but based on what we know about Old Stone Age humans in continental Europe and in southern England, there's reason to suspect an early push northward. The study was published in The Journal of Quaternary Science. Surprisingly Advanced Ancient Spear Tip Was Not Made by Modern Humans DNA Reveals Surprising Twist About Christopher Columbus This 134-Year-Old Patent Reveals The Proper Way to Hang Toilet Paper
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Found 11,500-Year-Old Tools That Reveal an Incredible Human Adventure
Researchers discovered tools dating as far back as 11,500 years. The tools could be evidence of the earliest human settlement in Scotland. Nomads likely crossed into the Isle of Skye via Doggerland—an area that is now covered by the North Sea. Humans love convenience, and that's a love as old as time (well, maybe that's a stretch). The oldest tools discovered thus far date back to our early ancestors, around 2.6 million years ago. While these tools were rudimentary (often unaltered sticks and rocks found on the ground), they played a key part in the broader story of human evolution. Not only were they helpful to the early humans who used them back then, but early tools like these also serve as valuable clues for scientists today. Case in point, a research team just found tools on the Isle of Skye which shed light on Scotland's oldest inhabitants. Researchers dated these new-found Scottish tools back to between 11,500 and 11,000 years ago, during what is called the Late Upper Paleolithic. The 'Upper' part of the Paleolithic Period is a subdivision marked by the development of more advanced tools. The discoveries mean the west coast of Scotland now represents the largest concentration of evidence proving the early presence of people in the area, according to a press release. The team consisted of researchers from universities of Leeds, Sheffield, Leeds Beckett, and Flinders in Australia. Together, they worked to reconstruct the landscape and changing sea levels of the time. They determined that nomads likely crossed into Skye when much of western Scotland was buried under ice after the Younger Dryas—a sudden cooling period that froze much of the Northern Hemisphere. Researchers theorize that the pioneers crossed via Doggerland, which is now covered by the North Sea. According to Karen Hardy, leader of the team, the nomads' journey to the Isle of Skye was the 'ultimate adventure story.' She explained in the release that as they followed animal herds northward and entered Scotland, the landscape changed to one that was icy and treacherous. 'A good example of the volatility they would have encountered can be found in Glen Roy,' Hardy said in the press release, '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.' Once in Scotland, the pioneers had to adapt to live among the melting glaciers, oceans, and mountains—conditions that were shockingly different from their former homelands in the northwestern Great European Plains. Hardy believes the settlers strategically chose where to base themselves to best access coastal and riverine resources. They also began to value ochre—a pigment that was important to ancient cultures. Although the exact terrains the nomads crossed can no longer be visited, they can be imagined at places like Sconcer, a township on the same island where the tools were discovered. Needless to say, these findings were crucial in advancing knowledge of ancient Scotland. 'This is a hugely significant discovery which offers a new perspective on the earliest human occupation yet known, of north-west Scotland,' Hardy said. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
