Back to the Mesolithic Age calendar
One of the amazing things about history, and particularly ancient history, is that although it happened such a long time ago, what we know about it is constantly
changing as more is being discovered. In these first few sections of Owlbut's History of England we will talk quite a bit about archaeology and archaeologists.
Archaeology is the study of the past by looking at and analysing material from the past. This material can often be found underground and sometimes even under the sea or
lakes or rivers. The people who study this are called archaeologists. If a particular area is being studied it is called “a dig”. These digs can happen for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes areas are being developed and before new buildings are started archaeologists may be given a set amount of time to see what lies under where the older buildings, which
have been knocked down, used to stand. In other cases a study of written history may give clues to where something or someone's remains may be. You may have read the story about
the team of archaeologists who discovered the body of King Richard III underneath what is now a car park in Leicester.
These new discoveries and new ways in which we can analyse material are why I said history is still changing and can be so exciting. About twenty
years ago some amateur archaeologists found flint tools sticking out of a cliff at a place called Howick in Northumberland. Next an expert team came to examine
the site.
They found one of the best-preserved Mesolithic huts ever discovered in Britain. They used a method called radiocarbon dating to find out how
old the hut was and it was found to have been built about 7,800 BC. What is more it would appear, from things found in the hearths where fires had burned and
food deposits left, that the hut was probably occupied for over 100 years.
This immediately meant that we now knew not all the people who had come back to England were complete hunter gatherers. Obviously some stayed in one place for quite a long time.
Also, dating the hut to 7,800 BC and finding it in the north of England, means these people had already gone quite a long way north after the ice had melted.
One of the problems for archaeologists during this time is that nearly all buildings were built of wood and wood rots away. It's quite easy, in
later history, to find a stone wall of a Roman villa, even a mosaic floor, but all you can usually find with wooden buildings are the post holes, holes
where the wooden posts were hit into the ground, and then guess what the building may have looked like.
The people at Howick decided to build their own Mesolithic hut from the information they had found. In the end two huts were built and you can
actually go along and visit them.
Forward to 7500BC
