Swine team roots out clues to Scots life

The earliest evidence of life in Scotland has been found — by a herd of pigs.

The discovery was made at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, on the island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides, in 2009 after the foraging pigs unearthed a set of 12,000-year-old Mesolithic Ice Age items.

Archaeologists from Reading University moved in and discovered a trove of artefacts, including tools such as scrapers which are believed to have been used for cleaning skins, and sharp points used for hunting big game.