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‘Absolute’ dating of Mesolithic human activity at Star Carr, Yorkshire: new palaeoecological studies and identification of the 9600 bp radiocarbon ‘plateau’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

S. P. Day  and
P. A. Mellars
S. P. Day
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER
P. A. Mellars
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ
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Abstract

The existence of a ‘radiocarbon plateau’ at 9600 BP causes problems for early Mesolithic archaeology and palaeoecology, since events separated by up to 400 calendar years are not distinguished by radiocarbon dating. A new sequence of closely spaced radiocarbon accelerator dates from waterlogged deposits at the early Mesolithic site at Star Carr, Yorkshire, has enabled recognition of this plateau. It has been possible to ‘wiggle-match’ these Star Carr dates to the recently produced dendrochronological calibration curve for the early post-glacial period, providing an ‘absolute’ chronology for formation of the deposits. Associated high resolution palaeoecological analyses indicate two local phases of human activity, the lengths of which can be estimated from the calibrated time-scale. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that it has been possible to provide ‘absolute’ dates for human activity at an early Mesolithic site in Europe.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , 1994 , pp. 417 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1994

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