The Hunter Gatherer Settlement that lasted longer than most English towns! Star Carr

Around 9300 BC, early Mesolithic groups settled near Lake Flixton, North Yorkshire, to build the settlement at Star Carr. This remarkable settlement thrived for eight centuries. Excavations revealed extensive wooden platforms, a unique engraved shale pendant, and thirty-three iconic red deer headdresses. In today's episode, I am going to share its story with you. Refrences: Whole Books (E-Books) Milner, N., Conneller, C. and Taylor, B. (eds) (2018a) Star Carr volume 1: a persistent place in a changing world. York: White Rose University Press. doi: 10.22599/book1. Milner, N., Conneller, C. and Taylor, B. (eds) (2018b) Star Carr volume 2: studies in technology, subsistence and environment. York: White Rose University Press. doi: 10.22599/book2. Edited Book Chapters Taylor, B., Milner, N. and Conneller, C. (2019) ‘Excavations at Star Carr: past and present’, in Groß, D., Lübke, H., Meadows, J. and Jantzen, D. (eds) Working at the sharp end: from bone and antler to Early Mesolithic life in Northern Europe. Hamburg: Wachholtz (Steinzeit im Ostseeraum, 10), pp. 141–152. Waddington, C. (2015) ‘A case for a secondary Mesolithic colonisation of Britain after rapid inundation of the North Sea plain’, in Ashton, N. and Harris, C. (eds) No stone unturned: papers in honour of Roger Jacobi. London: Lithic Studies Society, pp. 221–232. Journal Articles Bates, J., Milner, N., Conneller, C. and Little, A. (2024) ‘Spatial organisation within the earliest evidence of post-built structures in Britain’, PLoS ONE, 19(7), e0306908. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306908. Blockley, S., Candy, I., Matthews, I., Langdon, P., Lawler, E. and Palmer, A. (2018) ‘The resilience of postglacial hunter-gatherers to abrupt climate change’, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(5), pp. 810–818. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0508-4. Conneller, C., Bayliss, A., Milner, N. and Taylor, B. (2016) ‘The resettlement of the British landscape: towards a chronology of Early Mesolithic lithic assemblage types’, Internet Archaeology, 42. doi: 10.11141/ia.42.11. Damlien, H., Nyland, A.J. and Redmond, J.J. (2024) ‘Lithic technology before and after the Storegga tsunami (8200 cal BP): dissolving large-scale regional trends to identify social impact of crisis in western Norway’, The Holocene, 34(12), pp. 1790–1806. doi: 10.1177/09596836241274987. High, K., Milner, N., Panter, I., Demarchi, B. and Penkman, K.E.H. (2016) ‘Lessons from Star Carr on the vulnerability of organic archaeological remains to environmental change’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(46), pp. 12957–12962. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1609222113. Little, A., Elliott, B., Conneller, C., Pomstra, D., Evans, A.A., Fitton, L.C., Woods, A., Meadows, J., Cusack, R. and Milner, N. (2016) ‘Technological analysis of the world’s earliest shamanic costume: a multi-scalar, experimental study of a red deer headdress from the early Holocene site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, UK’, PLoS ONE, 11(4), e0152136. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152136. Milner, N., Bamforth, M., Beale, G., et al. (2016) ‘A unique engraved shale pendant from the site of Star Carr: the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain’, Internet Archaeology, 40. doi: 10.11141/ia.40.8. Sharrocks, P.D. and Hill, J. (2024) ‘Evaluating the impact of the Storegga tsunami on Mesolithic communities in Northumberland’, Journal of Quaternary Science, 39(4), pp. 473–487. doi: 10.1002/jqs.3586. Taylor, B. (2019) ‘Early Holocene wetland succession at Lake Flixton (UK) and its implications for Mesolithic settlement’, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 28(5), pp. 559–573. doi: 10.1007/s00334-019-00714-9. Waddington, C., Bailey, G., Boomer, I., Milner, N., Pederson, K., Shiel, R. and Stevenson, T. (2003) ‘A Mesolithic coastal site at Howick, Northumberland’, Antiquity, 77(295). Available at: https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/wadd... (Accessed: 5 February 2026). Waddington, C. and Wicks, K. (2017) ‘Resilience or wipe out? Evaluating the convergent impacts of the 8.2ka event and Storegga tsunami on the Mesolithic of northeast Britain’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 14, pp. 692–714. doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.06.014. Walker, J., Gaffney, V., Fitch, S., Momber, G., Bates, M., Naylor, A. and Plets, R. (2020) ‘A great wave: the Storegga tsunami and the end of Doggerland?’, Antiquity, 94(378), pp. 1409–1425. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2020.49. _____ Buy me a coffee?: https://ko-fi.com/alexilesuk My Patreon:   / alexilesuk   Iles Tours Website: www.ilestours.co.uk _____ Introduction and Outro Video made by Lauren Kirkwood:   / lauren-kirkwood-9b8750191   Many thanks to Geza Frank and Event Horizon for permission to use their music - Pulsar (    • EVENT HORIZON - Pulsar [Official]  )