Archaeologists Discover 11,000-Year-Old Stone Circles Indicating Early Humans on Isle of Skye

Archaeologists from the University of Glasgow have uncovered stone circles and tools on the Isle of Skye that provide evidence of the earliest human occupation in northwestern Scotland, dating back approximately 11,000 years to the Late Upper Paleolithic period. These discoveries, including finely crafted tools resembling those of the Ahrensburgian culture from northern Europe, suggest that early hunter-gatherers not only ventured far north but also possibly established a sustained population in this previously considered inhospitable and glaciated region. The stone circles, measuring 3 to 5 meters in diameter and located in tidal zones, along with the abundance of local materials used for tools, indicate a significant and potentially long-term human presence. This challenges prior assumptions that climatic extremes during the Younger Dryas period would have precluded survival in Scotland’s northwest and highlights a remarkable migration and adaptation story as these early humans followed animal herds and exploited coastal and riverine resources. The site’s location below modern sea level implies that sea-level changes and melting glaciers shaped the landscape these pioneering populations encountered. Overall, the findings shift our understanding of the timing and nature of human settlement in Scotland, emphasizing a complex prehistoric expansion into the far reaches of the British Isles.