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Furthermore, some sites in Britain, such as Stonehenge, Wiltshire (Allen and Gardiner 2002), and Warren Fields, Aberdeenshire (Hilary et al 2009), have evidence for large posts or post-rows (usually attributed to the Neolithic) dated to the Mesolithic. Against a background of more frequent recognition of Mesolithic features, this sort of evidence is
Furthermore, some sites in Britain, such as Stonehenge, Wiltshire (Allen and Gardiner 2002), and Warren Fields, Aberdeenshire (Hilary et al 2009), have evidence for large posts or post-rows (usually attributed to the Neolithic) dated to the Mesolithic. Against a background of more frequent recognition of Mesolithic features, this sort of evidence is
demonstrating the possible ritual use of the landscape in the Mesolithic and lends further support to the idea that people invested time and energy at certain places in the landscape (Gaffney et al 2013).
We are also beginning to understand submerged landscapes due to the pioneering work of the North Sea Palaeolandscapes Project which has firmly placed modern technology at the heart of submarine archaeology (Gaffney et al 2007). A total of 23,000km2 of 3D seismic survey data was acquired and reprocessed to reconstruct Mesolithic land surfaces. This project has illustrated the significance of marine geophysical survey in identifying areas of enhanced archaeological potential. A similar project off the west coast in the Bristol Channel and Liverpool Bay areas
identified former freshwater bodies that may have attracted human activity and areas with the potential for organic preservation (Fitch and Gaffney 2011). In addition, at Bouldnor Cliff in the Solent, the value of submarine exploration saw impressive returns when the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Marine Archaeology excavated twisted plant fibres, hearths, pits, burnt flint, timbers and lithics (Momber et al 2011).
Human skeletal evidence remains slight in England and new discoveries are rarely made; however, a human femur excavated from a palaeochannel at Staythorpe, Nottinghamshire (Davies et al 2001) was radiocarbon dated to the Mesolithic (the 6th millennium cal BC). Further
discoveries have been made through radiocarbon dating of previously excavated bone, such as two human skulls from Greylake, Somerset (Brunning and Firth 2012). Much of this dating work has been carried out by Rick Schulting as part of a wider study to determine diet through
stable isotope analyses and dental microwear, which is very important in its own right (see text box).
Possible Mesolithic rock art has been suggested by members of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society, comprising two incised rows of crosses sealed by a stalagmite at Aveline’s Hole (Mullan and Wilson 2004) and similar motifs at Long Hole, Somerset (Mullan and Wilson 2005; Mullan and Wilson 2006); there is also a figurative example at Goatscrag in Northumberland (Waddington 1999). More prolific and stratified items such as portable art objects and decorated woodwork are found across Europe so it is not unreasonable to anticipate similar discoveries in Britain, especially from marine or wetland contexts.
One of the most significant scientific achievements has been the enhancement of dating precision through the use of Bayesian statistics, as carried out on the sequence of hearths from the structure at Howick (Waddington 2007). This dating programme has demonstrated the level of refinement that is possible on sites with stratigraphy. Furthermore, the association of geometric narrow-blade lithics with these early dates has allowed Waddington to suggest a north-eastern point of entry to Britain for this lithic technology (ibid, 223; Waddington and Passmore 2012), a conclusion supported by a recent assessment of the northern British evidence (Ritchie 2010). A similar programme of radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling is currently being carried out by Alex Bayliss for Star Carr and by Ian Bailiff and Clive Waddington for Low
Hauxley. This technique is beginning to provide the historical perspective that has been so lacking for the Mesolithic. Other dating techniques, such as thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), have also been used on a number of sites. Although they tend to have broad error ranges, these lesser-used techniques have helped to clarify chronologies on sites where radiocarbon dating was unsuitable, such as at Heathrow Terminal 5 where TL dating suggested a late 8th- to 7th-millennium cal BC origin for burnt flint-filled pits (Lewis et al 2010).
Interrogating source material has become much easier with the advent of OASIS ([http://www.oasis.ac.uk/index.cfm|oasis.ac.uk]) and the Archaeology Data Service’s (ADS) ‘Grey Literature Library’ providing on-line access to unpublished commercial fieldwork reports. The Archaeological Investigations Project’s (AIP) database facilitates the identification of grey literature, as does the on-line portal for Historic Environment Records (HERs) ‘Heritage Gateway’. This is complemented by the Colonisation of Britain by Modern Humans project run by Wessex Archaeology, also known as PaMela ([http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/48666/colonisation-britain-project|http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/48666/colonisation-britain-project]), which digitised Roger Jacobi’s archive, and Blinkhorn’s (2012) work which compiled evidence from PPG16-era archaeology. Additionally, John Wymer’s gazetteer (1977) has been digitised and made available on the ADS (Whyte 2008). As of May 2013, the Portable Antiquities Scheme database ([http://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/broadperiod/MESOLITHIC/|http://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/broadperiod/MESOLITHIC/]) contains almost
6000 items identified as being of Mesolithic date (see also Bond 2010). However, the system of identification and verification requires tightening to lend more credibility to the lithics in the database.
The consistent popularity of Time Team since the 1999 Framework was published has served to maintain archaeology in the public consciousness but the incorporation of the Mesolithic into its schedule has been scant in comparison to other periods: of the 256 episodes listed on the Channel 4 website only five give any coverage to the Mesolithic. However, these have included a number of special programmes on Doggerland (2007) and the Mesolithic tsunami (2013), with another being filmed during excavation at Low Hauxley in 2013. In 2003, the BBC featured Howick
in a Meet the Ancestors episode on ‘Britain’s oldest house’ and on the first series of Coast. Ray Mears chose the Mesolithic for a five-part series with Gordon Hillman entitled Wild Food (Mears and Hillman 2007), in which they explored Mesolithic Britain from a dietary perspective and included contributions from academics specialising in the Mesolithic period. The BBC series A History of Ancient Britain included items on Goldcliff, Star Carr and Bouldnor Cliff alongside more extensive discussion of the Mesolithic, and the first episode of Britain BC had an item on Star Carr with special reference to the canine faunal remains. More recently, the BBC’s Digging for Britain programme also investigated Star Carr, highlighting the recent research into the site’s deterioration.
Although museum exhibitions on the Mesolithic are rare in this country, in recent years attempts have been made to rectify this. Notably, Clive Waddington has carried out two reconstructions of the Howick structure, one on the site itself and one on the Maelmin Heritage Trail near Wooler, Northumberland. In addition, the Yorkshire Museum in York installed a major, year-long exhibition on Star Carr in 2013 and the Great North Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne, is producing a display on the site at Low Hauxley.
Other initiatives to get the public involved in discovering the Mesolithic include the North East Yorkshire Mesolithic Project (Waughman 2012), which has used volunteers to monitor erosion scars in order to identify areas of Mesolithic potential in the North York Moors
National Park; work at North Park Farm, Surrey, where excavations of Mesolithic archaeology by the Surrey County Archaeological Unit, Archaeoscape and volunteers (Guinness 2012) inspired Surrey County
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