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

Hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic
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Figure 3.3 Changes in sea-level of the North Sea in the Early Holocene. These maps show how Britain
gradually became detached from the continent, with the flooding of large areas by the encroaching North
Sea leading to the loss of substantial hunting territories.
Source: Verart, L., 1996. ‘Fishing for the Mesolithic. The North Sea: a submerged Mesolithic landscape’, in
Fischer, A. (ed.) Man and the Sea in the Mesolithic. Oxford: Oxford Monograph 53, 291–301
Star Carr’s inhabitants could have walked eastwards to what are now the Low Countries and
Denmark (Figure 3.3). The rising sea flooded this landscape by 8,500 years ago, separating Britain
from the Continent. Rivers that had flowed into the now-submerged land silted up; these drainage
changes led to the formation of the East Anglian fens. The rising sea-level established the shorelines
of southern England much as they are today, but in the north geographical changes were more
complex. There, owing to the removal of the weight of ice, the land was rebounding upwards. By
6,500 years ago, this isostatic rebound began to outpace the rise in sea-level, resulting in a fall in
relative sea-level. In many areas of northern Britain, raised beaches, often about 10m above
current sea-level, mark the Late Mesolithic coastline. As with vegetational changes, however,
local factors played a role: the former location of glaciers and the local geology influenced local
topographic changes.
THE MESOLITHIC RECORD
Scatters of stone tools and the debris from their manufacture are the most abundant feature
of the record. These are found throughout Britain with the exception of the Western and
Shetland Isles, although this apparent absence is likely to be due to lack of fieldwork. Additionally,
middens— large waste heaps of shells, animal bones and artefacts—are known from coastal