Ancient site · Settlement
Star Carr
Star Carr in North Yorkshire is the most informative Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) site in Britain. Hunter-gatherers camped on the shore of a lake soon after the Ice Age, when Britain was still joined to mainland Europe.
Because the site lies in wet peat, wood, bone and antler survived. Finds include Britain's oldest known structure, 21 red-deer skull caps that may have been worn as headdresses, and nearly 200 antler points. Radiocarbon dates place the activity between about 9300 and 8500 BCE.
- Dates
- c. 9300–8500 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 54.21° N, 0.42° W
How we know
No writing existed; radiocarbon dates from finds preserved in waterlogged peat show people used the lakeside for about 800 years.
Nearby sites
- Hadrian's Wall begun 122 CE; Roman rule ended c. 410 CE
- Stonehenge c. 3100–1600 BCE (sarsen circle c. 2600–2400 BCE)
- Newgrange built c. 3100 BCE; out of use by the Bronze Age
- Ness of Brodgar c. 3500–2200 BCE
- Skara Brae c. 3180–2500 BCE
- Tollund Man (find site) died c. 405–384 BCE
Related
- Maglemosian culture archaeological culture