Old Stone Age axe find could re-write Scottish history by 100,000 years

An ancient axe, possibly 450,000 years old, has been discovered on the shore at St Ola in Orkney that may change the understanding of Scottish history.

Alan Price, who has a keen interest in archaeology, found the axe that has been described as ‘incredibly exciting’ by Caroline Wickham-Jones, a lecturer in archaeology in the University of Aberdeen.

Wickham-Jones believes that the flint axe dates from the Palaeolithic period, or Old Stone Age, of prehistory and could be anything between 100,000 and 450,000 years old.

Palaeolithic axes are incredibly scarce, with fewer than ten being found in Scotland.

"This axe is definitely older than 100,000 years - so old it's become geology. Whoever made it would have been familiar with animals long since extinct - the woolly mammoth, for example. I find that really mind-blowing," the Scotsman quoted Wickham-Jones as saying.

"If it really comes from Orkney, it would change our understanding of the whole of Scotland. It would set back our known history from 14,000 years ago to at least 100,000 years ago," she added.