Star Carr (jan 1, 8770 BC – jan 1, 8460 BC)
Description:
Star Carr, UK (The Human Past, 392); very well-preserved temporary settlement.
Located: Northeast England, extinct lake shore
What: Early Mesolithic Hunter-gatherer campsite
Importance: Waterlogged conditions preserved a wide range of organic materials
Time: 1st occupation 8770 BC (> +- 80 yr, periodically) → 100 yr abandoned
2nd occupation 120 yr of periodically burning until c.8460 BC (larger scale)
Finds:
Wooden platform;
Flint tools;
Microliths
fitted in wooden shafts for knifes or hunting; Arrows;
200 Barbed points, Used for hunting and fishing (of red deer antler and bone);
Mattock heads
made of elk antler
perforated to fit an wooden haft;
Wooden paddle blade, Canoe;
21 frontlets of red deer skulls with antler still attached:
Traces of intentional working
thinned, perforated, could be worn as headdress→ used in hunting magic?
Diet: Red deer; roe deer; elk; pig; aurochs; - as well as: stork and crane.
Interesting:
Periodically burned
Uniqueness:
Exceptional preservation of organic remains
offering insight into Mesolithic lifeways,
demonstrate full significance of settlements
Added to timeline:
World Archaeology - Europe. Mesolithic to the Iron age
Date:
Images:
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Geo:
