New evidence combined with a detailed re-evaluation of postglacial fault mo
vements, seismic activity and shoreline sequences suggests that the period
of deglaciation and the early Holocene was more seismically active than the
mid to Late Holocene. It is proposed that the large-scale lateral displace
ments formerly proposed can not be justified, rather all postglacial fault
movements appear to be limited to metre-scale vertical movements along pre-
existing fault lines. In addition, it is argued that the Younger Dryas ice
advance may have produced localised crustal redepression but not the more w
idespread impact formerly proposed. Both tectonic and postglacial rebound s
tresses, however, may be needed to explain the contemporary seismotectonics
of the Scottish Highlands. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser
ved.