an early settlement at cramond, near what is today edinburgh, has been dated to around 8500 bc. pits and stakeholes suggest a hunter-gatherer encampment, and microlith stone tools made at the site predate finds of similar style in england. although no bones or shells had survived the acid soil, numerous carbonised hazelnut shells indicate cooking in a similar way to finds at other mesolithic period sites, including the slightly earlier star carr and the howick house in northumberland, dated to 7600 bc ("britain's oldest house"), where post holes indicate a very substantial construction, interpreted as a permanent residence for hunting people. this suggests that hunter-gatherers could also have settled down in scotland.