Posted on 05/20/2025 10:38:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
In the windswept reaches of northern Scotland, where jagged cliffs meet the crashing waves of the Atlantic, a discovery has emerged that challenges long-held assumptions about human history at the icy edge of Europe.
Archaeologists have unearthed stone tools on the far northern coast of the Isle of Skye, suggesting that humans thrived at what was once considered the bleak and uninhabitable margin of the world during the final throes of the last Ice Age.
The study, published in The Journal of Quaternary Science, details the finding of Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP) tools at South Cuidrach on the Isle of Skye. These tools -- identified as likely belonging to the Ahrensburgian culture -- represent the most northerly evidence of human occupation in Britain from that period...
The Ahrensburgian culture, first identified in northern Germany, was previously known from sites on the European mainland and parts of southern Britain. It is dated to the latter part of the Younger Dryas, a brutal climatic snap-back between 12,900 and 11,700 years ago when glaciers surged back across parts of Europe, driving temperatures by up to 50°F in some regions...
Excavations at South Cuidrach revealed a trove of stone tools -- including tanged point fragments and expertly crafted blades -- made primarily from locally sourced baked mudstone.
While direct radiocarbon dating remains elusive for these artifacts, researchers say the technology and style are consistent with Ahrensburgian culture. This points to human presence either during or shortly after the glaciers began their rapid retreat around 11,600 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedebrief.org ...
Yep. That’s what they say. But some others came from Vikings, no?
Lots. Scandinavian DNA is usually a nice chunk of people with British Isles ancestries. The Vikings appear to have recolonized some of those islands where the former populations had croaked our or left for better lives.
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