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

斯塔卡尔是一个中石器时代早期的狩猎采集者遗址，位于北约克郡斯卡伯勒附近，可追溯到公元前9千年。该遗址因其丰富的有机人工制品和沉积在湖边的生态物质而享誉国际，并因此在泥炭中保存了大约11000年。该遗址的重要性最近得到了英国遗产委员会的认可，他们即将将该遗址列为国家纪念碑。1948年，当地考古学家约翰·摩尔（John Moore）首次发现并挖掘了“星卡尔”，随后剑桥大学的格雷厄姆·克拉克（graham Clark）又进行了三个季节的挖掘。该遗址出土了191支鱼叉、21个鹿角头饰、鹿角铲、刮骨器、锥子和圆锤、木桨、琥珀和页岩珠，以及大量动物遗骸。在20世纪80年代进行了进一步的工作，发现了一个木材平台或轨道，由凿开的木板建造，这是欧洲最早的系统木工证据。自2004年以来，最近的发掘工作产生了进一步的重要发现，改写了我们对这一时期的理解：另一个木制平台/轨道被发现，英国最早的小屋结构的证据被发现，遗址的规模和居住的寿命表明，人们已经定居在这一景观中，而不是高度流动。然而，有一个主要问题：在最近的挖掘中发现，使该遗址如此重要的有机遗迹正在严重恶化。主要发现是：1)在克拉克海沟旁边的积水海沟（1954年在那里发现了大量的骨头和鹿角）中，只发现了2块严重变质的骨头，其中一块是“果冻骨”，即完全去矿化，主要由明胶组成；2)在最近发掘的2条浸水沟中发现的25块鹿角碎片均呈极扁平状，呈革质；3)木材和泥炭都被极度压缩，木材几乎没有纤维素存活。4)该领域的沉积物呈强酸性（< pH 3.0），易受酸度进一步增加和氧化的影响。这一时期的木材在英国是独一无二的，到目前为止，它提供了早期木材加工方法的诱人一瞥，包括砍伐和劈开成木板。然而，人们对两个相距25米的2米宽的战壕知之甚少：这些是一个大平台的一部分吗？它的用途是什么？这是一条通往湖中的铁轨吗？它使用了多长时间？它和周围的人工制品有什么关系？它是如何建造的？对这些问题的理解不仅将回答欧洲狩猎采集考古学的重要问题，而且还将有助于史前后期关于类似平台和轨道的功能以及史前湿地的使用的关键辩论。研究表明，这些木材不再经常被水浸透。英国气象局的数据显示，2010年前5个月，英国的总降雨量是40多年来最低的。据预测，地下水位的降低将带来进一步的灾难性后果：即条件可能已成为有氧腐烂的最佳条件，木材将被需氧细菌和真菌迅速消化。该团队认为，现在非常脆弱的工作木材将无法在今年之后进行进一步分析。因此，本研究计划的目的是在为时已晚之前挖掘木材平台区域。

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.