The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 32 • Nicholas Barton
Figure 2.11 Engraved horse mandible from Kendrick’s Cave (Gwynedd).
Source: Courtesy of the British Museum
implies that these animals were employed by humans to assist in hunting or for traction or some
other purpose. It seems likely that the assemblages with ‘long blades’ and those with small tanged
points are variants of the same Ahrensburgian technocomplex (Barton 1989).
An interesting group of decorated objects of this period has been recovered from Kendrick’s
Cave, Llandudno. They comprise a horse jaw incised with a chevron (zig-zag) design (Figure
2.11) and perforated and decorated badger and deer teeth for beads.
In sum, the possibility of a cultural break in human settlement during the Lateglacial in Britain
appears to be strongest in the coldest part of the Younger Dryas (c. 10,500 BP). However, until
this hypothesis can be more fully investigated, it remains possible that occupation continued
intermittently throughout this period, perhaps on a scale small enough to be archaeologically
invisible.
The end of the Younger Dryas cold stadial is signalled by an episode of intense climatic
warming across Britain and western Europe. The rate of most rapid change may have lasted for
as little as 50 years (Alley et al. 1993). Temperatures at the beginning of the Postglacial (c.10,000
BP) seem to have been as high as or even higher than those of the present day. The appearance
of Mesolithic industries containing items of wood-working equipment (axes and adzes) appears
to be linked with increased forestation soon after the beginning of this period. It is noteworthy,
however, that non-geometric microlith projectiles found in the Early Mesolithic are similar to
types found in the Latest Palaeolithic ‘long blade’ assemblages (Barton in Barton et al. 1991),
suggesting that division of these groupings may be somewhat arbitrary.
Acknowledgements
Jill Cook, Andrew Currant and Roger Jacobi are thanked for providing information incorporated
in this chapter.