Archaeologists Find The Earliest Dated Evidence Of Human Activity In Scotland

Aided by a herd of pigs foraging along the coastline of the Scottish island of Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Ìle, Na h-Eileanan a-staigh, Alba), archaeologists from the University of Reading have found a set of Ice Age Mesolithic and Palaeolithic tools. The stone tools used for hunting, included scrapers used for cleaning skins and sharp points for hunting big game such as reindeer. The items date back 12,000 years, the earliest dated evidence of human activity in Scotland. Since pigs first uprooted the items in 2009 trial excavations took place in 2013 and are set to resume in 2016 at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, on Islay.