Post by UKarchaeology on Nov 11, 2015 20:36:51 GMT
Archaeologists from the University of Reading have found the earliest dated evidence for human activity in Scotland - with a helping hand from a herd of pigs.
The team made the remarkable discovery of a set of 12,000 year-old Ice Age stone tools while excavating Rubha Port an t-Seilich, on Islay in the Inner Hebrides in 2013. The tools include scrapers used for cleaning skins, sharp points likely used for hunting big game, such as reindeer, and much more.
While the dig involved highly skilled archaeologists they have another team, or herd, to thank for the discovery. Pigs foraging along the Islay coastline uprooted Mesolithic objects in 2009 which ultimately led to the start of the excavation.
The age and distinctive style of the tools means they had been made by people of the Ahrensburgian culture, which flourished in mainland Europe towards the end of the last Ice Age. A few sites from this culture have recently been discovered in Denmark and Sweden, suggesting the Ahrensburgian people may also have been coastal foragers, perhaps hunting sea mammals from skin boats. The discovery confirms this but also suggests a level of seafaring and exploration entirely unexpected for the Ice Age.
The tools were discovered while the team were excavating what turned out to be one of the best preserved Mesolithic sites in Scotland. That revealed a diverse range of stone tools, animal bones, plant remains and a fireplace. However on the last day of the excavation the team were stunned to find tools that would have been used thousands of years earlier.
Full story: www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR647509.aspx
The team made the remarkable discovery of a set of 12,000 year-old Ice Age stone tools while excavating Rubha Port an t-Seilich, on Islay in the Inner Hebrides in 2013. The tools include scrapers used for cleaning skins, sharp points likely used for hunting big game, such as reindeer, and much more.
While the dig involved highly skilled archaeologists they have another team, or herd, to thank for the discovery. Pigs foraging along the Islay coastline uprooted Mesolithic objects in 2009 which ultimately led to the start of the excavation.
The age and distinctive style of the tools means they had been made by people of the Ahrensburgian culture, which flourished in mainland Europe towards the end of the last Ice Age. A few sites from this culture have recently been discovered in Denmark and Sweden, suggesting the Ahrensburgian people may also have been coastal foragers, perhaps hunting sea mammals from skin boats. The discovery confirms this but also suggests a level of seafaring and exploration entirely unexpected for the Ice Age.
The tools were discovered while the team were excavating what turned out to be one of the best preserved Mesolithic sites in Scotland. That revealed a diverse range of stone tools, animal bones, plant remains and a fireplace. However on the last day of the excavation the team were stunned to find tools that would have been used thousands of years earlier.
Full story: www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR647509.aspx