Archaeologists have identified rare human bones as the remains of Britain's last hunter-gatherers on a small island in the Inner Hebrides.
There is a surprising absence of human remains from the Late Mesolithic era which came just prior to the arrival of farming in Britain in around 4,000BC.
However the island of Oronsay is unique as it holds the remains of six human individuals.
And, using an innovative new bone collagen analysis technique, archaeologists from the Universities of York, Cambridge and UCL have been able to determine the species of 20 previously unidentifiable bone fragments from the site of Cnoc Coig of which 14 were confirmed as human.
Stone Age bones of Britain's last tribe of hunter-gatherers are discovered on an island in the Inner Hebrides
Surprising absence of human remains in Britain from Late Mesolithic era
But island of Oronsay has remains of six humans from around 4,000BC
Archaeologists have determined previously unidentifiable human bones
Find enables researchers to better understand the diet of the period
Evidence marine diets continued even after introduction of farming
By Harriet Mallinson For Mailonline
11 August 2016
Archaeologists have been able to determine the species of 20 previously unidentifiable bone fragments from the site of Cnoc Coig of which 14 were confirmed as human
Archaeologists have identified rare human bones as the remains of Britain's last hunter-gatherers on a small island in the Inner Hebrides.
There is a surprising absence of human remains from the Late Mesolithic era which came just prior to the arrival of farming in Britain in around 4,000BC.
However the island of Oronsay is unique as it holds the remains of six human individuals.
And, using an innovative new bone collagen analysis technique, archaeologists from the Universities of York, Cambridge and UCL have been able to determine the species of 20 previously unidentifiable bone fragments from the site of Cnoc Coig of which 14 were confirmed as human.
Study of the remarkable find has enabled researchers to better understand the diet of Britain's last forager groups and their relationship to the earliest evidence for agriculture.
Dr Sophy Charlton, lead author on the paper detailing the results of their collagen analysis and a Research Associate at the Natural History Museum in London, explained: 'Analysing previously unidentified bone fragments shows us that both hunter-gatherer-fisher and farming lifestyles potentially co-existed on the West coast of Scotland for several hundred years.'
Based on previous findings, it was assumed that hunter-gatherer foraging was fairly rapidly replaced with the arrival of agriculture in Britain, resulting in a sudden dietary shift.
However the island of Oronsay is unique as it holds the remains of six human individuals
Oronsay is just off the larger island of Colonsay
But this recent discovery points to the contrary, with evidence that in some parts of the UK, diets were based largely on marine foods even after the arrival of agriculture.
Charlton added: 'Further analysis has the potential to greatly clarify our understanding of the transition to agriculture in Western Scotland and more broadly across Britain.'
'Our findings also illustrate how information can be obtained from previously overlooked material.
'So much research potential lies dormant within "unidentifiable" prehistoric bone fragments, and there is consequently significant potential for the future application of this method to other prehistoric sites.'
Read more: Stone Age bones of Britain's last tribe are discovered in Inner Hebrides | Daily Mail OnlineFollow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
There is a surprising absence of human remains from the Late Mesolithic era which came just prior to the arrival of farming in Britain in around 4,000BC.
However the island of Oronsay is unique as it holds the remains of six human individuals.
And, using an innovative new bone collagen analysis technique, archaeologists from the Universities of York, Cambridge and UCL have been able to determine the species of 20 previously unidentifiable bone fragments from the site of Cnoc Coig of which 14 were confirmed as human.
Stone Age bones of Britain's last tribe of hunter-gatherers are discovered on an island in the Inner Hebrides
Surprising absence of human remains in Britain from Late Mesolithic era
But island of Oronsay has remains of six humans from around 4,000BC
Archaeologists have determined previously unidentifiable human bones
Find enables researchers to better understand the diet of the period
Evidence marine diets continued even after introduction of farming
By Harriet Mallinson For Mailonline
11 August 2016
Archaeologists have been able to determine the species of 20 previously unidentifiable bone fragments from the site of Cnoc Coig of which 14 were confirmed as human
Archaeologists have identified rare human bones as the remains of Britain's last hunter-gatherers on a small island in the Inner Hebrides.
There is a surprising absence of human remains from the Late Mesolithic era which came just prior to the arrival of farming in Britain in around 4,000BC.
However the island of Oronsay is unique as it holds the remains of six human individuals.
And, using an innovative new bone collagen analysis technique, archaeologists from the Universities of York, Cambridge and UCL have been able to determine the species of 20 previously unidentifiable bone fragments from the site of Cnoc Coig of which 14 were confirmed as human.
Study of the remarkable find has enabled researchers to better understand the diet of Britain's last forager groups and their relationship to the earliest evidence for agriculture.
Dr Sophy Charlton, lead author on the paper detailing the results of their collagen analysis and a Research Associate at the Natural History Museum in London, explained: 'Analysing previously unidentified bone fragments shows us that both hunter-gatherer-fisher and farming lifestyles potentially co-existed on the West coast of Scotland for several hundred years.'
Based on previous findings, it was assumed that hunter-gatherer foraging was fairly rapidly replaced with the arrival of agriculture in Britain, resulting in a sudden dietary shift.
However the island of Oronsay is unique as it holds the remains of six human individuals
Oronsay is just off the larger island of Colonsay
But this recent discovery points to the contrary, with evidence that in some parts of the UK, diets were based largely on marine foods even after the arrival of agriculture.
Charlton added: 'Further analysis has the potential to greatly clarify our understanding of the transition to agriculture in Western Scotland and more broadly across Britain.'
'Our findings also illustrate how information can be obtained from previously overlooked material.
'So much research potential lies dormant within "unidentifiable" prehistoric bone fragments, and there is consequently significant potential for the future application of this method to other prehistoric sites.'
Read more: Stone Age bones of Britain's last tribe are discovered in Inner Hebrides | Daily Mail OnlineFollow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook