Fading Star: understanding accelerated decay of wetland archaeology

北约克郡的星星卡尔是欧洲最著名的中石器时代遗址。它占据了一个突出的地位，在每一个时期的综合和它的解释一直是无数论文的主题。已故的格雷厄姆·克拉克爵士在1949年至1951年之间进行的经典挖掘工作，发现了大量保存完好的动物遗骸和一系列壮观的骨骼和鹿角文物。这些包括鹿角头饰（解释为仪式用具），以及在英国发现的中石器时代早期鱼叉尖的97%（193）。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。最近的发掘（星星卡尔项目）提供了两个进一步的重要见解：星星卡尔的原始发掘占总遗址的不到5%，因此还有很多关于占领性质的发现;以及使该遗址如此着名的有机材料现在由于严重的化学降解而迅速恶化，可能是由于排水模式的变化。在湖边沉积物中发现的骨头非常少（与20世纪50年代发现的1000多块骨头相比），已经挖掘出来的少数几块骨头已经被脱矿物质，变成了像果冻一样的“粘液”。鹿角不再健壮，被发现变平，像“皮革”一样，木材已经被证明在细胞水平上严重降解，几乎没有纤维素存活。总的来说，在最近的调查中，在潮湿的沉积物中发现的100%的骨头和鹿角都严重恶化。现在至关重要的是，从这些研究的结果进行适当的综合和进一步测试，以确定降解速率和成岩作用的过程。该项目汇集了来自一系列学科的专业知识，试图解决这种快速退化背后的原因。合适的专家团队和能够产生这种基本解释的网站的组合是罕见的，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定的网站，其结果也将有深远的应用程序，管理整个欧洲的其他湿地网站。该奖学金旨在整合过去三年来在该遗址进行的不同科学考古领域的成果，从而巩固研究结果，并对退化的原因和过程提供全面的了解。这项研究将为学生提供一个独特的机会，在无机和有机地球化学方面进行培训，并利用这些技能为严肃的考古问题提供重要的见解。这些结果对星星卡尔的未发掘考古学和其他湿地遗址，特别是酸性遗址的保护的考古学意义，将与英国遗产合作进行充分评估。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，从而推荐缓解策略。

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.