Journal of Wetland Archaeology 11

Presents results of a project focused on investigating the deterioration of organic sediments in the area adjacent to the Mesolithic site of Star Carr. Physical and geochemical analyses of sediment sequences from 15 boreholes have been used to assess preservation status and potential of the deposits. The results indicate that severe acidification as a result of chemical oxidation of sulphide to sulphate has occurred at various locations around the site. This has adversely affected the preservation potential of these sediments. The acidification is strongly associated with a well-developed iron-sulphur (Fe-S) zone within the archaeological sediments, and is closely linked to annually fluctuating water tables. In contrast, some sequences had constantly low water tables and were oxidised throughout, but others with perennially high ground water showed only modest acidification. This offers the possibility of at least some areas of the Mesolithic Star Carr palaeo-lake edge being better preserved, although perhaps vulnerable to changes in the hydrological regime.

A model based on experience gained from the management of other European wetland sites is applied to the mesolithic site of Star Carr. It is concluded that long-term in situ preservation is not feasible, and suggests a combined approach based on partial preservation by record and in situ. Au/PP-B

Star Carr in the eastern Vale of Pickering is an emblematic site for the British Early Mesolithic and for the development of wetland archaeology, being one of the first studies where scientific techniques of environmental reconstruction were integrated within an archaeological research strategy, allowing detailed understanding of site conditions and the environmental context of human activities. Pollen diagrams from Star Carr and around palaeo-Lake Flixton record natural woodland development in the early Holocene and a mosaic of productive wetland environments as the lake progressively filled with sediment. High resolution pollen and microscopic charcoal data show that the lake-edge reedswamp was regularly burned during the Mesolithic occupation. Deciduous forest spread across the Yorkshire region, but fire was an important diversifying factor during the whole of the Mesolithic period in most areas, particularly in the later Mesolithic in the Pennine and North York Moors uplands where concentration of fire-disturbance episodes at higher altitudes may have prevented woodland extending to the summit plateaux. In places repeated disturbance led to environmental degeneration. Detailed reconstruction of the environmental history of the Vale and the Yorkshire region allows Star Carr to be considered within conceptual models of Mesolithic economic strategies, land-use and settlement patterns.