Mesolithic: (c.8000 - 4000BC)

In the Pleistocene age, Scotland was covered by glaciers. Around 13,500BC, temperatures began to warm up although there was a 'cold snap' from 11,000 to 10,000BC. Trees began to advance northwards, with birch woods appearing in the south of Scotland around 9,000BC, hazel about 8,250BC, elm circa 7,500BC and oak around 6,700BC. Scots Pine first appeared in the Grampian region between 6,300 to 5,500BC. Temperatures were slightly warmer than at present and rainfall was approximately 90% of today's average.

Mesolithic peoples were primarily hunter-gatherer societies, probably living in small groups. Archaeological evidence is rare although the remains of two campsites have been discovered, one at Morton in Fife and the other at the River Lussa. The people followed the seasons, moving as food supply dictated.

Shell middens have also been excavated, mainly in the islands on the west coast. Food consisted of fish, shellfish, deer and wild cattle with a few fruits, roots and hazelnuts. The population was probably sparse, with no more than ten to twenty people per 400 square miles.

Some Mesolithic artefacts have been found, including fishing hooks, stone tools and carved stone balls. Nobody knows the significance of the balls. Perhaps they were used in some kind of game.

Anthropologists generally agree that in such societies, breeding populations of a few hundreds are needed for long-term success so there was probably a form of marriage between peoples of different groups.

The latest research on genes show that nearly all persons of British lineage are descended from these Mesolithic peoples.