From riches to rags: rapidly deteriorating wetland archaeology at the internationally renowned Mesolithic site of Star Carr

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Star Carr is an Early Mesolithic, hunter-gatherer site near Scarborough, North Yorkshire which dates to the 9th millennium cal. BC. The site has become internationally renowned due to the richness of the organic artefacts and ecofacts deposited on the edge of a lake and consequently preserved within peat for roughly 11,000 years. The importance of the site has recently been recognised by English Heritage, who are about to schedule the site as a National Monument. Star Carr was first discovered and excavated by local archaeologist John Moore in 1948, followed by three further seasons of excavation carried out by Grahame Clark of the University of Cambridge. The site produced 191 harpoons, 21 antler headdresses, elk antler mattocks, bone scrapers, awls and bodkins, a wooden paddle, amber and shale beads, as well as a large assemblage of faunal remains. In the 1980s further work was carried out revealing a timber platform or trackway, constructed of hewn planks, which is the earliest evidence of systematic carpentry in Europe. More recent excavations since 2004 have produced further important discoveries which rewrite our understanding of this period: another timber platform/trackway was discovered, evidence for the earliest hut structure in Britain was found and the size of the site and longevity of occupation suggests that people were settling into this landscape, as opposed to being highly mobile. However, there is a major problem: during recent excavations it has been discovered that the organic remains which made the site so important are severely deteriorating. The key findings are that: 1) In the waterlogged trench located next to Clark's trench (where abundant quantities of bone and antler were found in 1954) only 2 pieces of severely deteriorated bone were found, one of these being a 'jelly-bone', i.e. completely de-mineralised and mainly composed of gelatin; 2) All of the 25 fragments of antler found in the two recently excavated waterlogged trenches were extremely flattened and had become leathery; 3) Both the wood and the peat were extremely compressed and the wood has little to no cellulose surviving 4) The deposits in this field are highly acidic (< pH 3.0) and vulnerable to further increases in acidity and oxidisation. Wood of this period and in this abundance is unique to this site in the UK, and so far has provided tantalizing glimpses on early methods of wood-working, including hewing and splitting into planks. However, little is known about the platforms, glimpsed in two 2m wide trenches 25m apart: are these parts of one large platform? What was it used for? Is it a trackway running into the lake? How long was it used for? How does it relate to the artefacts deposited around it? How was it constructed? An understanding of these issues will not only answer important questions for hunter-gatherer archaeology in Europe, but will also contribute to key debates in later prehistory on the function of similar platforms and trackways and the use of wetlands in prehistory. Research demonstrates that the wood is no longer constantly waterlogged. Data from the MET office shows that rainfall totals across the UK have been lowest for over 40 years for the first five months of 2010. Such a lowering of the water table is predicted to have further disastrous consequences: i.e. conditions may have become optimal for aerobic decay and the wood will be rapidly digested by aerobic bacteria and fungi. The team believes that the now precariously fragile worked wood will not be amenable to further analysis beyond this year. Therefore, this research proposal aims to excavate areas of the timber platform before it is too late.