When Did the Last Ice Age End and When Did People First Inhabit Scotland?
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2022-07-24

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When Did the Last Ice Age End and When Did People First Inhabit Scotland? 

The last Ice Age engulfed much of the world in thick oceans of ice, with Scotland being one landmass that was trapped under ice. When did the last Ice Age end however, and when did people inhabit Scotland?

Over a timeline of millions of years, planet earth is on a constant cycle of warming and cooling, with ice expanding and then receding at various points. Colder periods with an abundance of ice are known as glacial periods, and warmer periods are known as interglacial periods. Earth’s history is divided into giant periods of time, with our current period known as the Quaternary glaciation or Pleistocene glaciation, which began 2.58 million years ago. The Quaternary period itself is the third and most recent period in Cenozoic era of the geological time scale of the planet, with the Cenozoic era beginning 66 million years ago. 

The Quaternary period itself is marked by glacial and interglacial periods, with ice expanding and then receding. The Last Glacial Period, known more commonly as the last Ice Age, lasted from the end of Eemian period to the end of the Younger Dryas period, or from around 115,000 to 11,700 years ago. The Last Glacial Maximum, which is time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent, is thought to have occurred between 26,500 years and 20,000 years ago. At this point, much of the Northern regions of North America, Northern Europe, and Asia were covered by ice sheets.  Global temperatures were about 11 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) lower than they are today. 

The Last Glacial Maximum was followed by the Late Glacial Interstadial (LGI), a period of warming that took place between 14,670 and 12,890 years ago. This probably allowed human population to start pushing north as the ice retreated. The Younger Dryas period put a slight spanner in the works however (not more ice surely), as earth returned to a brief glacial period around 12,900 to 11,700 years ago. This glacial period proved short lived thankfully, as the Younger Dryas period finished around 11,700 years ago and this allowed human population to start settling north once again. 

When does this mean from Scotland however?  When did Scotland emerge from the ice, and when did human populations re-emerge in Scotland? 

Sources:

Quaternary, Britannica https://www.britannica.com/science/Quaternary/Types-of-Quaternary-sediments 

Scotland's most ancient home found – at 14,000 years old https://web.archive.org/web/20101123220803/http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Scotland39s-most-ancient-home-found.5161087.jp 

The Herald, Bridge works uncover nation's oldest house https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13081347.bridge-works-uncover-nations-oldest-house/ 

University of Birmingham, The Beginning of Time? https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2013/the-beginning-of-time-2 

Scotsman - Scientists date end of ice age in Scotland Scientists date end of ice age in Scotland | The Scotsman 

LiveScience - Pleistocene epoch: The last ice age https://www.livescience.com/40311-pleistocene-epoch.html 

Wikipedia, Last Glacial Period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Glacial_Period 

Britannica, The Last Glacial Maximum https://www.britannica.com/science/climate-change/Climate-change-since-the-advent-of-humans#ref994351

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#iceage #scotland #history 

Chapters:
0:00 Ice Age
2:33 Scotland Emerges from the Ice Age
5:05 World's Oldest Calendar 
7:26 Support