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.

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