When Prof. Nicky Milner, of the Univ. of York’s Dept. of Archaeology,
was 15-years-old, she went on an Anglo Saxon excavation. The trip was
only supposed to last three days, but the budding archaeologist ended up
staying for six weeks.
“The fact that you can touch things that have been in the ground for
thousands of years thrilled me,” she told R&D Magazine of her early
interest in archaeology.
But five miles away from where Milner grew up sat a treasure trove of
archaeological goodies. Located in North Yorkshire, the Star Carr site
was famously excavated by Grahame Clark between 1949 and 1951, and
changed archeologists’ understanding of people from the Mesolithic
Period. The earliest known house in Britain, the oldest evidence of
carpentry in Europe, and headdresses made from red deer skulls and
antlers (possibly worn by shamans who communed with the animal spirit
world), all were found at the site.
“People here were not passing by—they were building structures and
making their homes around the edge of the lake,” said Milner, noting
that these ancient people weren’t the typical nomadic hunter-gatherers.
Eventually, Milner started volunteering with the Vale of Pickering
Research Trust, which led to her directing excavations at the Star Carr
site. “I couldn’t believe that such an amazing site lay on my doorstep,”
she said. “I never imagined I would be so lucky to get to excavate it.”
What’s more, Milner was part of a team that last year uncovered an
11,000-year-old pendant from the site. And the discovery is being called
the “earliest known Mesolithic art in Britain.” Their research was
published in Internet Archaeology, and the pendant will be on display
for the public from Feb. 27 until May 5 at the Yorkshire Museum.
The 31 mm by 35 mm perforated pendant was discovered submerged in a
swampy environment. At first, the engravings were invisible, but further
examination revealed the linear lines.
In Mesolithic Europe, pendants were commonly made from materials like
amber, bone, and antler. But the Star Carr pendant is shale, and to
Milner and colleagues’ knowledge, it’s the first instance of an engraved
pendant being made of shale.
“It is very hard to say why it was made from shale but it may have been
the shape of this particular piece,” Milner said. “It is a very pleasing
shape—more or less a triangle—and we think it was probably naturally
that shape rather than having been made into that shape.”
According to study co-author Chantal Conneller, of The Univ. of
Manchester, the pendant’s designs are similar to those found in southern
Scandinavia and near the border of the North Sea, which indicates a
close cultural connection between the areas.
The researchers postulated that the markings may represent a tree, a map, a leaf, or tally marks.
“Personally, I like the tally mark idea,” said Milner. “When I first saw
it—and the lines were not so clear—I thought it looked like a tree. But
using our imaging techniques we are able to see the lines more clearly
and can see lots of very small lines at right angles to some of the
longer lines.”
“I wonder whether they were using them for counting something,” she
added. “But because the pendant was also found close to finds of
headdresses I also wonder whether there may be a connection to
shamanism.”
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