The
Mesolithic period, also known as the Middle Stone Age, lasted
for over 6000 years from around 10,000 BC to around 4000 BC.
It began at the end of the last Ice Age (at the end of the
Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age) and it continued until the
first appearance of farming in the Neolithic (New Stone Age).
Download our Mesolithic
Leaflet to find out more.
Although
the period was long we know relatively little about it. The
North York Moors National Park and Tees Archaeology have teamed
up to find out more and have set up a research project with
funding from English Heritage. |
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| Initial
Research
The
project began in 2006 with an assessment of published sources,
museum collections and information from the Historic Environment
Record.
You
can read the full report on the initial research here: -
2006
Assessment Report
In
2008 volunteers were briefed and set to monitoring patches
of erosion on the moors and recording any flints that were
visible.
Our
guidelines for collecting and recording flint scatters can
be downloaded here:-
Flint
Recording Guidelines
Flint
Recording Key Facts
Several
significant flint collections were reported as a result of
this monitoring and have been assessed in the following report:
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Volunteer
Flint Collection Report |
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Upleatham
and Goldsborough 2008
Fieldwork
for the Mesolithic project began in 2008 with shovel and test
pitting at Upleatham and Goldsborough, both near the coast.
Mesolithic flints were recovered from both sites but were
mainly from the topsoil or later prehistoric features.
To find out more please download the report for the 2008 field
season below:-
2008
Report
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Farndale
Moor 2009
This
fieldwork took place on the high moor top at Farndale where
previous concentrations of Mesolithic flint had been noted.
Over 3000 flints were recovered associated with stone spreads
and a number of cut features. The report can be downloaded
below:-
2009
Report
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Wetherhouse
Moor and Bransdale 2010
Further
fieldwork took place on the high moors in 2010. The
sites were chosen as there were documented flint collections
from the area. Wetherhouse Moor was badly disturbed
by moor fires and road building. The Bransdale site
produced very late Mesolithic flint work and several shallow
cut features. More details can be found in the report:
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2010
Report
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2011
Overview
During
2011, we produced an overview of the entire project which
is now available to download below. This includes details
of all three field seasons.
2011
Overview Report
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Flint
Factsheets
The
project produced several large assemblages of flint.
The initial resource assessment also highlighted the fact
that the regions museums hold vast collections of prehistoric
lithics, and many of these are poorly documented. To
help museums and private collecters we produced the following
factsheets:-
Flint
Recording Factsheets |
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Goldsborough
2012-2013 and final report
In
2012 a further and final round of English Heritage funding
was confirmed to bring the project to a close. This
will include a geophysical survey at Goldsborough followed
by a further season of excavation. A booklet about the
project will also be produced. There is a link to the
2012 project proposal below:-
2012
Project Proposal |
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Goldsborough
2012 Geophysical Survey
In
May 2012 a geomagnetic survey was carried out at the Goldsborough
site to see how effective the technique might be in identifying
Mesolithic features. The work was conducted by Archaeological
Services, Durham University.
The
results of the survey were encouraging with several anomalies
identified consistent with buried ditches and gullies of a
prehistoric settlement. You can download the report
for the work below: -
2012
Geophysical Survey |
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Goldsborough
2012 Fieldwalking
In
September 2012 we managed to gain access to the field following
the terribly late harvests given the appalling weather over
the summer. A small team walked the field and managed
to collect over 450 surface finds, most of which were flint.
The interim report of the fieldwalking can be downloaded below:
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2012
Fieldwalking Interim Report |
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Goldsborough
2013 Archaeological Excavation
In
the very cold month of March we carried out a fortnight of
archaeological test pitting at Goldsborough. Despite
atrocious weather the team were able to excavate over 90 small
test pits. Finds included an area of burnt stones and charcoal,
not dissimilar to documented Mesolithic hearths. Flints from
the excavations included some definitive Mesolithic pieces.
Further work will now be carried out to date the hearth and
the results will be published here when they are available.
In the meantime the interim report is below:-
2013
Fieldwork Interim Report |
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