First Settlements in Scotland

People lived in Scotland for at least 8,500 years before Britain's recorded history began. During the last interglacial period (130,000–70,000 BCE), Europe experienced a warmer climate, which may have allowed early humans to reach Scotland, evidenced by the discovery of pre-Ice Age axes in Orkney and mainland Scotland. After glaciers receded around 9600 BCE, Scotland became habitable again. 

The first known settlements in Scotland were Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer encampments, with a notable site near Biggar dating to around 12000 BCE. These early inhabitants were highly mobile, boat-using people who crafted tools from bone, stone, and antlers. The oldest evidence of a house in Britain is an oval structure of wooden posts found at South Queensferry near the Firth of Forth, dating from the Mesolithic period, around 8240 BCE. Additionally, the earliest stone structures in Scotland are likely the three hearths discovered at Jura, dated to about 6000 BCE.