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Star Carr
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Star Carr
Star Carr is a Mesolithic archaeological site in North Yorkshire, England. It is around five miles (8 km) south of Scarborough. It is generally regarded as the most important and informative Mesolithic site in Great Britain. It is as important to the Mesolithic period as Stonehenge is to the Neolithic period or Scandinavian York is to understanding Viking Age Britain.
The site was occupied during the early Mesolithic archaeological period, which coincided with the preboreal and boreal climatic periods. Though the ice age had ended and temperatures were close to modern averages, sea levels had not yet risen sufficiently to separate Britain from continental Europe. Highlights among the finds include Britain's oldest structure, 21 red deer stag skull-caps that may have been headdresses and nearly 200 projectile, or harpoon, points made of red deer antler. These organic materials were preserved due to having been buried in waterlogged peat. Normally all that remains on Mesolithic sites are stone tools.
Excavation of the site began in 1948, a year after artefacts were first noticed by John Moore, an amateur archaeologist. The site is most famous for some of the extremely rare artefacts discovered during the original excavations but its importance has been reinforced by new understandings of the nature and extent of the Mesolithic archaeology in the area and reinterpretations of the original material.
Star Carr now lies under farmland at the eastern end of the Vale of Pickering. During the Mesolithic, the site was near the outflow at the western end of a palaeolake, known as Lake Flixton. At the end of the last ice age, a combination of glacial and post-glacial geomorphology caused the area to drain to the west (away from the shortest-distance to the North Sea at Filey). The basin filled by Lake Flixton was probably created by glacial 'scarring'.
The site is preserved due to Lake Flixton having been in-filled with peat during the course of the Mesolithic. Waterlogged peat prevents organic finds from oxidising and has led to some of the best preservation conditions possible (such conditions have preserved the famous bog bodies found in other parts of northern Europe). As a result of such good conditions, archaeologists were able to recover bone, antler and wood in addition to the flints that are normally all that is left on sites from this period.
During the period of Mesolithic occupation, the area surrounding the lake would have been a mixed forest of birch, aspen, and willow. The lake edge and shallows would have been full of reeds, water lily and other aquatic plants and lake levels would have changed dynamically in response to rainfall or snow-melt.
These and many other plants would have formed the base of a complex food web. The mammals that we have evidence for include herbivores such as beaver, red deer, roe deer, elk, aurochs, wild boar, hare and carnivores such as wolf, lynx, bear, fox, pine marten, badger and hedgehog.
Current radiocarbon dates from the site indicate occupation first commenced between 9335 and 9275 BC, lasting for a period of around 800 years until 8525–8440 BC. However, such occupations may have been episodic in nature, varying in intensity between different periods.
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Star Carr
Star Carr is a Mesolithic archaeological site in North Yorkshire, England. It is around five miles (8 km) south of Scarborough. It is generally regarded as the most important and informative Mesolithic site in Great Britain. It is as important to the Mesolithic period as Stonehenge is to the Neolithic period or Scandinavian York is to understanding Viking Age Britain.
The site was occupied during the early Mesolithic archaeological period, which coincided with the preboreal and boreal climatic periods. Though the ice age had ended and temperatures were close to modern averages, sea levels had not yet risen sufficiently to separate Britain from continental Europe. Highlights among the finds include Britain's oldest structure, 21 red deer stag skull-caps that may have been headdresses and nearly 200 projectile, or harpoon, points made of red deer antler. These organic materials were preserved due to having been buried in waterlogged peat. Normally all that remains on Mesolithic sites are stone tools.
Excavation of the site began in 1948, a year after artefacts were first noticed by John Moore, an amateur archaeologist. The site is most famous for some of the extremely rare artefacts discovered during the original excavations but its importance has been reinforced by new understandings of the nature and extent of the Mesolithic archaeology in the area and reinterpretations of the original material.
Star Carr now lies under farmland at the eastern end of the Vale of Pickering. During the Mesolithic, the site was near the outflow at the western end of a palaeolake, known as Lake Flixton. At the end of the last ice age, a combination of glacial and post-glacial geomorphology caused the area to drain to the west (away from the shortest-distance to the North Sea at Filey). The basin filled by Lake Flixton was probably created by glacial 'scarring'.
The site is preserved due to Lake Flixton having been in-filled with peat during the course of the Mesolithic. Waterlogged peat prevents organic finds from oxidising and has led to some of the best preservation conditions possible (such conditions have preserved the famous bog bodies found in other parts of northern Europe). As a result of such good conditions, archaeologists were able to recover bone, antler and wood in addition to the flints that are normally all that is left on sites from this period.
During the period of Mesolithic occupation, the area surrounding the lake would have been a mixed forest of birch, aspen, and willow. The lake edge and shallows would have been full of reeds, water lily and other aquatic plants and lake levels would have changed dynamically in response to rainfall or snow-melt.
These and many other plants would have formed the base of a complex food web. The mammals that we have evidence for include herbivores such as beaver, red deer, roe deer, elk, aurochs, wild boar, hare and carnivores such as wolf, lynx, bear, fox, pine marten, badger and hedgehog.
Current radiocarbon dates from the site indicate occupation first commenced between 9335 and 9275 BC, lasting for a period of around 800 years until 8525–8440 BC. However, such occupations may have been episodic in nature, varying in intensity between different periods.
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