Fading Star: understanding accelerated decay of wetland archaeology

北约克郡的斯塔卡尔是欧洲最著名的中石器时代遗址。它在这一时期的每一次综合中都占据着突出的地位，它的解释一直是无数论文的主题。已故的格拉汉姆·克拉克爵士（Sir graham Clark）在1949年至1951年间进行的经典发掘，产生了大量保存完好的动物遗骸和一系列令人惊叹的骨头和鹿角人工制品。其中包括鹿角头饰（被解释为仪式用具），以及在英国发现的中石器时代早期超过97%（193个）的鱼叉。20世纪80年代的小规模挖掘发现了一个木材平台，这是欧洲系统木工的最早证据。最近的挖掘（Star Carr项目）提供了两个进一步的重要见解：在Star Carr的原始挖掘只占整个遗址的不到5%，因此关于占领的性质还有很多有待发现；使这个地方如此出名的有机物质现在正在迅速退化，因为严重的化学降解，可能是由于排水模式的变化。在湖边沉积物中发现的骨头很少（与20世纪50年代发现的数千块骨头相比），而挖掘出来的少数骨头已经脱矿，变成了像果冻一样的“粘液”。鹿角不再结实，变得扁平，像“皮革”一样，木材在细胞水平上已经严重退化，几乎没有纤维素存活。总的来说，在最近的调查中，在潮湿沉积物中发现的100%的骨头和鹿角都严重恶化。现在至关重要的是，对这些研究的结果进行适当的综合和进一步的测试，以确定降解率和成岩过程。该项目汇集了来自各个学科的专业知识，试图解决这种快速退化背后的原因。合适的专家团队和一个能够产生这种基本解释的地点的结合是罕见的，这种研究的机会既有限又紧迫。需要采取紧急行动。该项目不仅将解决这个特殊的地点，其结果也将对整个欧洲其他湿地地点的管理产生深远的应用。该项目旨在整合过去三年来在该遗址开展的不同科学考古领域的成果，从而巩固这些发现，并对退化背后的原因和过程提供一个总体的理解。这项研究将为学生提供一个独特的机会，让他们接受无机和有机地球化学的训练，并利用这些技能为一个严肃的考古问题提供重要的见解。我们将与英国遗产局合作，全面评估这些结果对斯塔卡尔未发掘的考古和其他湿地遗址（特别是酸性遗址）保护的考古意义。这些结果最终将使学生和项目团队能够对场地退化的速度做出明智的决定，从而建议缓解战略。

Star Carr, North Yorkshire, is the most renowned Mesolithic site in Europe. It occupies a pre-eminent position in every synthesis of the period and its interpretation has been the subject of countless papers. The classic excavations of the late Sir Grahame Clark between 1949-51 yielded extraordinary discoveries of abundant, well-preserved animal remains and a spectacular range of bone and antler artefacts. These included antler headdresses (interpreted as ritual paraphernalia), and over 97% (193) of the Early Mesolithic harpoon points found in Britain. Small-scale excavations in the 1980s uncovered a timber platform, the earliest evidence of systematic carpentry in Europe. Recent excavations (the Star Carr project) have provided two further important insights: that the original excavations at Star Carr constitute less than 5% of the total site, and therefore there is still much to be discovered about the nature of occupation; and that the organic materials which made the site so famous are now rapidly deteriorating due to severe chemical degradation, possibly due to changes in drainage patterns. Very little bone has been found in the lake edge deposits (in comparison to 1000s of pieces of bone discovered in the 1950s) and the few pieces that have been excavated have been demineralised and reduced to 'mucus' like jelly. The antler is no longer robust and is found flattened and 'leather' like, and the wood has been shown to be severely degraded at the cellular level with little to no cellulose surviving. Overall, 100% of the bone and antler found in wet deposits during the most recent investigations are severely deteriorated. It is now vital that the results from these studies are properly synthesised and tested further in order to determine the rates of degradation and the processes of diagenesis. This project brings together expertise from a range of disciplines to try to solve the reasons behind this rapid degradation. The combination of the right team of experts and a site capable of yielding such fundamental interpretations is rare and the opportunity for such study is both limited and pressing. Urgent action is needed. Not only will the project address this particular site, the results will also have far reaching applications for the management of other wetland sites throughout Europe. The studentship aims to integrate results from the different areas of scientific archaeology already undertaken at the site over the last three years, thereby consolidating the findings and providing an overarching understanding of the reasons for and processes behind the degradation. The study will provide a unique opportunity for the student to be trained in both inorganic and organic geochemistry, and to use these skills to provide vital insight into a serious archaeological question. The archaeological implications of these results on both the unexcavated archaeology at Star Carr and for preservation at other wetland sites, particularly acidic sites, will be fully assessed, in collaboration with English Heritage. These results will finally enable the student and project team to make an informed decision about the rapidity of the degradation of the site and therefore recommended mitigation strategies.