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Stone axes highlight important Mesolithic site in Surrey Surrey

Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 21 September 2005  Page Views: 11103

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Archaeologists have uncovered an important Stone Age site in the eastern end of Surrey, just off the M25. An excavation has turned up flint tools and cooking pots from about 10,000 years ago at the site on the North Downs. The area, which bears the remains of cooked meals, campfires and flints shaped into tools by people who visited the North Downs around 8,000BC, is believed to contain one of the most important Mesolithic excavations in Britain.

Andrew Josephs, an archaeologist and the project’s consultant, said: “The most extraordinary thing is that people gathered here for 4,000 years. It’s over a period of time that is very hard to comprehend. We think of the Romans as a long time ago, at 2,000 years. Mesolithic man was coming here for 4,000 years, which is 200 generations of people. It suggests a tradition passed down from generation to generation.”

Within hours of starting to dig yesterday, archaeologists had unearthed an adze, an implement used for shaping wood. The buried land surface is littered with evidence of communities that came to the area from around 8,000BC to 4,300BC.

So little is known about Mesolithic man’s way of life that the artefacts will greatly improve archaeologists’ understanding. The site is at North Park Farm, Bletchingley, a medieval village in East Surrey. It emerged when WBB Minerals, a mineral supply company, applied for planning permission to quarry in the area and an archaeological investigation was undertaken as part of the process.

WBB Minerals and English Heritage are funding a full excavation at a cost of £350,000. A series of public open days has been planned. More: The Times.

Note: See comment for the latest report on this excavation, with photos.
Contributor Bio for coldrum: Based in Milkyway, contributing since 2002. Favourite site: Avebury.

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"Stone axes highlight important Mesolithic site in Surrey" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Flint remains show Stone Age life by Anonymous on Wednesday, 21 September 2005
A Stone Age settlement uncovered in the North Downs is being hailed as an important archaeological find.

The site at Bletchingly, Surrey, is undisturbed and could show where people gathered in Mesolithic dwellings.

Archaeologist Becky Lambert said: "We are plotting the exact location of the flint, so we might even be able to see patterns of where people were sitting."

Flint is often found during ploughing - this undisturbed site may reveal hearths and where food was made.

Archaeological find
Mesolithic hunters chiselled tools and weapons out of flint

Ms Lambert added: "It is very exciting to think that people would have actually been sitting where we are, possibly crouched down like this, actually making tools."

Archaeologists at the North Park Farm site, which is within a mile of the M25, have found more than 1,000 finds ranging from shards to complete axes and entire pots.

The Mesolithic era - also known as the Middle Stone Age - began in about 8000BC when the last Ice Age ended.

It lasted until 4000BC which is when the Neolithic era - which saw the building of Stonehenge - started.

Items have also been found from the Iron Age, Bronze Age and the Middle Ages.

Even the remains of cooked meals and campfires have been found.

The site was found after a mineral company applied for planning permission to quarry in the area and an archaeological investigation was carried out.

It is thought the remains remained undisturbed because they were buried deep enough beneath the soil to be out of the reach of farming machinery.

Organisations involved in the dig include English Heritage, Royal Holloway London University, Surrey County Archaeological Unit and WBB Minerals.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/4264902.stm
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Re: Stone axes highlight important Mesolithic site in Surrey by MickM on Monday, 05 September 2005
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Mesolithic cooking pots? surely a reporting mistake here!
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    Re: Stone axes highlight important Mesolithic site in Surrey by Andy B on Monday, 05 September 2005
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    The most recent summary published says "In situ evidence was revealed for flint working at several of the sampled locations, and there is also evidence of fires and/or cooking activities."

    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.5246

    So not pots as such I shouldn't think. I'll enquire further.
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Stone axes highlight important Mesolithic site in Surrey by Thorgrim on Monday, 05 September 2005
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    More careless journalism methinks! Earliest known pottery in Britain dates from the Neolithic (3300 BC) and is thought to have been imported from Europe. Earlier, cooking would have been carried out by roasting or by dropping pot boilers (heated stones) into water contained in pits or wooden troughs.
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Re: Stone axes highlight important Mesolithic site in Surrey by Andy B on Tuesday, 30 August 2005
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There is a training dig on there at the moment. More details at http://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/npf2005.htm
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