More from Star Carr
I wrote previously a short piece about the skull and antler pieces found at Star Carr and since have been so intrigued I wanted to learn more. So I am writing this post just to help organize what I know so far.
Star Carr is a Mesolithic/middle stone age archeological site found in what is now North Yorkshire in England. The site was likely inhabited a few centuries after the end of the last major ice age of the Pleistocene, at the beginning of the warmer, post-glacial Holocene 11,500 yrs ago, around 9300-8500 BCE (about 800 years of occupation at the site), when Britain still attached to rest Europe by a landbridge (folks would have been able to walk from Star Carr to Denmark, or Northern Germany until about 6,200 BCE).
Map of Mesolithic Britain attached by a landbridge to Denmark and Northern Germany
The site of Star Carr, when thinking of the land 11,500 years ago, was at the edge of an ancient/ paleolake, Lake Flixton, an area which was eventually filled in with more recent sediments slowly turned into a Peat bog. Artifacts were "sealed" in beneath the Peat and preserved amazingly well. This is why there has been so much found at the constellation of sites at and around Star Carr.
I was pretty interested in the inventory of flora and fauna at the site. Here are some of the things researchers found there.
Samples of ancient pollen from the area reveal that there were Phragmites Reeds, Sedges and Bulrushes growing at the edges of the paleolake and near by woodlands were made up of hardwoods of Birch (Betula spp.), Aspen (Populus spp.) and Willow (Salix spp.). On shore, Nettles (Urtica dioica), Ferns and other forbs were growing. Some of the wooden artifacts found were made of Alder (Alnus spp.), Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) and Elder (Sambucus nigra) which were likely growing nearby. There was Northern Pike, (Esox lucius) and European Perch (Perca fluviatilis) bones have been discovered along with many other bones from the Cyprinidae family of freshwater fish. Along with fish, there was waterfowl and shellfish inhabiting the lake. A pendant made from bird bone was found at the site. Although fish and bird remains were discovered during excavation, it was mostly mammal remains that have been found. Some of those remains were Beaver (Castor fiber), Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), Elk (Cervus canadensis), Auroch (Bos primigenius - now extinct wild cattle), Boar (Sus scrofa), Hare (Lepus europaeus), Wolves (Canis lupus lupus), Lynx (Lynx lynx), Bear (Ursus arctos arctos), Fox (Vulpes vulpes), Pine marten (Martes martes), Badger (Meles meles), Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), most likely domestic Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris - an almost entire domestic Dog skeleton was found by the edge of the lake. Domestic Dogs were kept likely for hunting (same as now) and also as pets.
No one is quite sure why the site was abandoned. Was it a climatic event? Over harvesting? Bored of the neighbourhood? But eventually no one occupied the site. Fastforward to the modern setting of the village of Flixton, close to the city of Scarborugh in the county of North Yorkshire on England’s East coast. This area is situated in a lowland valley, 8-10km from the North Sea.
John Moore, an amateur archeologist and member of the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society, discovered Horse remains in 1946 while clearing out a drainage ditch. Later, in 1948 he dug a test pit and there found antlers, bone, and remnants of flint. He was then encouraged to contact professor Grahame Clark, a Mesolithic researcher from Cambridge University, who, with Moore’s blessing first excavated the site during three separate three week periods between 1949-1951. Grahame Clark published his findings in 1954. Since Clark’s excavations of Star Carr more than 25 other sites have been discovered nearby.
So there is so little folks know about who the folks were who were living at Star Carr, but there are assumptions based on what was found.
It was a hunter gatherer lifestyle, not yet sedentary farmers using domesticated crops and animals (except perhaps domestic Dogs). This domestication is first observed in England around 4,000 BCE (ushering in the Neolithic period). They lived in community of some sort, possibly as a hunt camp, possibly year round. It’s hard to tell over 800 year time span. During that long period, different objects piled up in waste middens, littered about the area near by, and deposited into the lake. As for the latter depositions, archeologists aren’t sure if they were placed there ceremonially, to decommission specific tools or give tools honourable disposals, or if they were just put in the lake inconsiderately. It seems though from the evidence gathered that artifacts were placed in the lake with a lot of intention.
All of the many varied items and artifacts found on the site were made of mineral, vegetable or animal materials. These materials were gathered by the folks living there, or possibly traded or gifted from other parts of the world.
Different types of beads have been found at Star Carr, including bird bone beads, and amber beads The amber was likely imported from southern Scandanavia as it is not found around the location of Star Carr and is common in Denmark and Northern Germany. There are also instances of these amber beads with carvings in them similar to the shale pendant discussed below.
22 shale beads were found during the first series of excavations by Grahame Clark, 3 more in more recent excavations. One of the ones found in the recent excavations was a pendant which has a hole which sinew or softened hide could be run through and worn. It is smaller than the other shale beads, only about the size of, and similar in shape to, a guitar pick. The pendant was found in the area of what was the lakeedge, and may have been tossed in as an offering to the lake. The real juicy part of this discovery was the fact that this pendant had engravings of lines on it. Nothing like this has been found in Britain before or since but there are similar findings similar to this in Scandanavia.
At first, 21 frontlets or headdresses made from Red Deer skulls and antlers were found. The only other place in Europe where these have been found is Northern Germany. These artifacts had perforations in front and sometimes in back for folks to affix them to their heads to be worn as either ceremonial garb for a shamanic or spiritual figure in/adjacent to the community in ritual performance or possibly as hunting disguise, like an early form of camo. Either could have happened and researchers can’t be sure. The recent excavations in 2015 have turned up even more of these antler frontlets bringing the total count up to 33. These pieces have become icons of the dig at Star Carr and were what caught my eye at first as well.
Some of the antlers on headdresses had been significantly reduced in size and there is a lot of speculation as to why. Perhaps the bring down the weight if folks were to wear them? Perhaps the antler pieces removed could have been used for tools before the rest of the frontlet was placed in the lake? Two of the frontlets came from Deer who had recently dropped their antlers so there were no antlers attached. Another came from a female Red Deer who never had antlers to begin with, but the rest of the skull was treated in the same fashion as all the other frontlets found. The researchers noted that many people fixate on the size of the antlers, but perhaps that wasn’t important to the Mesolithic inhabitants of Star Carr. Instead, perhaps it was the sex of the deer that mattered, or the idea that some had just shed was important?
Many tools were made from Red Deer antler, perhaps entire antler, or perhaps from the pieces caught off from the headdresses, such as awls, needles and barbed points. These barbed points were used to hunt with, with the barbs used to prevent the points from slipping out of the animal they had lodged into. Some had holes carved into the ends and were likely used as harpoons.
Post holes were found at the dry land sections of the Star Carr site and researchers suggest that they were likely part of a house, actually the oldest known house in Britain. These houses were likely constructed partly out of thatched Reeds like Phragmites, which grew in abundance around the lake, and is still used today for thatched roof construction in England. Reeds were attached to the frames of the houses likely with cordage of Nettle or Basswood (Tillia spp.).
Some reeds at the edge of the paleolake site had been burned repeatedly, though the research doesn’t explain why. It does say that studies of the charcoal found at the site suggest burns happened for about 300 years. This time span is less than half of the time that people had been visiting or occupying the site.
A few Birch bark rolls have been found during the excavations at Star Carr. Some of these rolls had sign of being used as torches, and a possible container perhaps to hold water or cook within was found as well. Birch bark tar cakes made from the resins of the Birch tree was also found, and a small piece of flint was found with tar at the base, likely used to affix the flint to an arrow shaft. Researchers are unsure how the resin was produced without pottery, but they are looking into it.
The fungi Fomes fomentarius or Tinder Conk (associated with hardwoods) as sometimes known was also found at Star Carr, and it is thought to have been used for the production of fire (this fungi has also been found on the corpse of Ötzi the Iceman, who was carrying it in his satchel when he died 5,000 years ago). Also traditionally used to help starting fires, or for carrying smoldering coals from one location to another, Birch Polypore, or Piptoporus betulinus, was also found at the site. From the coals remaining researchers determined that only Birch, Willow and Poplar were used for firewood.
Flint was likely deposited by the receding glaciers, and found by inhabitants along the rivers edges. Then it was worked into the stone tools found at the site. Flint was used for heads of arrows and embeded along the sides of the arrows to create a sharp edge. Also used as cutting tools for cutting down plants, cutting and scraping hides and of course for use with pyrite for getting sparks to start fires.
At the site they have also found a number of wooden artifacts, but only two were intact. One was a digging stick, carved from Willow. The digging sticks were flared at one end, like the top of a mushroom, where you could hold on with one hand while holding on to the shaft with the other while, digging post holes for houses, or more commonly, for digging roots for eating. They found another stick which was thought to be a digging stick, but later recognized it as a bow! These two were lying end to end at the edge of the paleolake, and were likely placed there intentionally. The oldest intact bow found in the world, which reveals a lot about hunting strategies of the time. The bow was carved from a Willow sapling about 70mm w, and was small and light, 1.4 m long, likely used for hunting small mammals or birds in the nearby woodland, or maybe for bowhunting fish in the shallows of the lake. The wooden arrows would have been shot with antler, bone, or flint arrowheads.
Other tools found at the site were made of bone and antler. Hammers, scraping tools, bodkins, and barbed points used in hunting and fishing. Some of the barbed points have traces of materials on the haft (the handles) which might mean they were affixed to a longer shaft, like an arrow or a spear, likely using Birch pitch and other plant materials.
Many large split beams of Aspen and Birch were found at the edge of the lake, thought now to be some of the first signs of carpentry in Europe. These beams were all laid out as platforms where folks could have stood on while collecting water from the lake (without muddying the banks and water), or possibly for bowhunting from. These platforms were built and rebuilt in many areas around the lake over centuries.
A sad and beautiful factor in finding remains and artifacts at Star Carr is the phenomena of decay. As the peatlands around the archeological sites are drained, there is less water to help preserve the buried items. This means they are degrading and decomposing fast and less likely to be discovered, and if found they may be in such bad shape that they cannot be preserved or useful for study.
All this to say that the way we shape the land now, how we alter it and change it affects what we know of our pasts, which ultimately shapes how we will move into the future.
As many indigenous cultures understand, and likely those too at Star Carr, time is not linear, but cyclic, and always ever present, playing out as Now. Our actions stretch across our understandings of place in time. We shape the past with our movements now. We shape the future with our understandings of the past. We must take responsibility to care for the present so we can remember what has, is and will be.
There really is just so much to know about Star Carr and I am very grateful to the researchers on the ground, the students of this site who are sharing what they have learned with the world. I am also deeply grateful to the ancient ancestors, all of our varied ancestors, whose struggles to survive, along with the deep reverence for the land got us where we are at today. I think it’s time we remember that reverential lifeway and find our ways back to lakes and forests which held us close to song ago.
To learn more check out these (surprisingly free) resources:
Exploring Stone Age Archaeology: The Mysteries of Star Carr online course
Star Carr Volume 1 - in depth review of discoveries and findings
Star Carr Volume 2 - more on discoveries and findings