Star Carr

is an early Mesolithic lakeside settlement located on the northern shore of the now-extinct Lake Pickering, near the town of Scarborough in northeast Yorkshire (England). It is dated in conventional radiocarbon terms to around 9,500 b.p., implying an actual age in terms of calibrated radiocarbon dates of around 10,700 b.p.—only a few hundred years after the end of the last Ice Age. Pollen analyses indicate that at the time of occupation the site was surrounded by open birch and pine woodland, enjoying temperatures not very different from those in the same ạrea at the present day. Excavations carried out by Professor Grahame Clark from 1949 to 1952 revealed a dense spread of flint, bone, and antler finds extending over an area of 66 by 82 feet (20 × 25 m) on the immediate shore of the lake, and extending into the adjacent lake-edge deposits. The finds consist of simple forms of Microliths (probably representing tips and barbs of arrows), flint scrapers, burins used for working antler, awls, and transversely sharpened flint axes characteristic of the early Mesolithic Proto-Maglemosian culture of northern Europe. These were associated with over two hundred barbed spearheads manufactured by the so-called groove and splinter technique from red deer antler. There were also elk-antler mattocks (possibly used for digging up roots), scraping tools made of wild oxen bones, and a number of what appear to be masks or headdresses manufactured from pairs of red deer antlers, and possibly used either as hunting disguises or in some ceremonial activities. In addition to these a number of simple perforated beads manufactured from local shale were found and one fragment of what appears to be a wooden paddle.

The associated animal remains indicate the large-scale hunting of red deer, roe deer, wild oxen, elk, and wild pig in the areas around the lake, together with a few remains of waterfowl. Curiously, there are no remains of fish from the site, possibly indicating that the lake had not yet been colonized by fish at this early stage in the Postglacial period. Remains of two domestic dogs represent some of the earliest finds of this animal so far identified in Europe. The season of occupation of the site has been disputed; while the red deer antlers point to hunting mainly during the autumn, winter, and early spring months, the remains of roe deer and pig seem to indicate hunting more during the summer months. It has been suggested that the site would have been occupied by a band of at most twenty-five people, and that the food remains represented by the animal bones alone could have supported a group of this size over a total period of six years—or over a much longer period if (as seems likely) the occupation of the site was more intermittent and seasonal. It has recently been argued that the site is more likely to represent a specialized hunting and butchery site than an occupation location. It is possible that at other seasons of the year the group (or groups) occupying the site moved either to the adjacent coast, or possibly onto the North York moors immediately to the north.

More recent excavations carried out in 1985 and 1989 have revealed that the site covers a much larger area than previously suspected, probably extending as a series of intermittent, overlapping occupations for at least 328 feet (100 m) along the shore of the lake. Excavations immediately to the east of the original excavations have revealed remnants of a substantial wooden platform, consisting of split and worked planks of poplar or willow, laid down in the waterlogged zone at the edge of the lake. Detailed pollen and sedimentary analyses through the lake edge deposits have revealed concentrations of charcoal particles extending over a total depth of around 12 inches (30 cm), and probably indicating intermittent use of the site over a period of at least 250 to 300 years. Identification of the charcoal particles suggests that these derive from the repeated burning of the reed-swamp vegetation immediately in front of the site, either to improve access to the lake, or conceivably to improve forage supplies for the local animal populations. Concurrent survey work has revealed that Star Carr represents only one of a number of sites of similar age distributed around the shores of the ancient lake Pickering, although as yet no other site has yielded such abundant finds of bone and antler artifacts. Star Carr stands at present as perhaps the riches, best-documented, and most informative early Mesolithic site so far investigated in Europe.[See also British Isles: Prehistory of the British Isles; Europe: The European Mesolithic Period.]

Paul Mellars