Although the oldest building on the list is the Neolithic farmhouse at Knap of Howar, the earliest period is dominated by chambered cairns, numerous examples of which can be found from the 4th millennium BC through to the early Bronze Age.

Determining the "oldest" place in Scotland depends on whether you are looking for human habitation or geological formations. In terms of human history, the Knap of Howar on the Orkney island of Papa Westray is the oldest standing stone house in North-Western Europe, dating back to roughly 3500 BC. These Neolithic farm buildings predate the famous Skara Brae. However, even older evidence of human presence was found at Howburn Farm in South Lanarkshire, where flint tools suggest hunter-gatherers were active as early as 12,000 BC (the end of the last Ice Age). Geologically, Scotland is home to some of the oldest rocks on Earth; the Lewisian Gneiss in the Outer Hebrides and the North-West Highlands is approximately 3 billion years old, dating back to the Precambrian era. For visitors, the "Oldest House" in a continuous urban setting is often cited as Moubray House in Edinburgh (c. 1477), but for those seeking the ancient soul of the country, the prehistoric standing stones of Callanish or the ruins on Orkney offer a much deeper journey back into the origins of Scottish civilization.