| Star Carr Pendant | |
|---|---|
 Star Carr pendant, front and back | |
| Material | Shale |
| Height | 3.1 cm |
| Width | 3.5 cm |
| Created | c. 8500 BC |
| Discovered | 2015 Star Carr, North Yorkshire, England 54°12′51″N00°25′24″W / 54.21417°N 0.42333°W |
| Discovered by | Tom Bell |
| Present location | Yorkshire Museum |
The Star Carr Pendant is a unique engraved shale pendant from the Mesolithic site of Star Carr in North Yorkshire, England. It has been described as the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain. [1]
The pendant was found in 2015 by a team from the University of York during excavations led by Nicky Milner. [2] It was excavated by Tom Bell, a student from the University of Chester on the last days of the excavation. [3] It was found in a context from the edge of the palaeolake Lake Flixton.
The pendant is sub-triangular in shape and measures 31 mm x 35 mm x 3 mm. ED-XRF (energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence) was used to prove that it is made from shale. The front face is engraved with a series of parallel, incised lines which often cross each other. It has a perforation, made by drilling through from the engraved side at one of the lobes. [2]
On the reverse side to the engraving there is a nick caused by a missing flake of shale in the central region. This may have happened accidentally or intentionally, presumably by something hard striking this surface before it was deposited in the lake. [2]
The pendant is unique and is the earliest example of Mesolithic art in Britain. Whilst it is very similar to a number of other pendants from northern European sites, this pendant is unique as it is made from shale, whereas the other examples tend to be crafted from amber. It is also one of the few decorated pendants that have been found within an archaeological context and not as a stray find. Analysis by the research team suggest that there are two phases of markings on the pendant, and that it is possible that more than one person added to it over time. Different interpretations from those who have seen the engravings have suggested that it may represent a tree, a map, a leaf, tally marks, even a representation of the wooden platforms which have been found at Star Carr. [2] [4]
The pendant is now in the Yorkshire Museum [5] and first went on public display in February 2016. [6]
The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for the corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus. The Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia. It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and the Middle East, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. In Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000 BP; in the Middle East roughly 20,000 to 10,000 BP. The term is less used of areas farther east, and not at all beyond Eurasia and North Africa.
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The 10th millennium BC spanned the years 10,000 BC to 9001 BC. It marks the beginning of the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic via the interim Mesolithic and Epipaleolithic periods, which together form the first part of the Holocene epoch that is generally believed to have begun c. 9700 BC and is the current geological epoch. It is impossible to precisely date events that happened around the time of this millennium, and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological analysis, anthropological analysis, and radiometric dating.
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Star Carr is a Mesolithic archaeological site in North Yorkshire, England. It is around five miles (8 km) south of Scarborough. It is generally regarded as the most important and informative Mesolithic site in Great Britain. It is as important to the Mesolithic period as Stonehenge is to the Neolithic period or Scandinavian York is to understanding Viking Age Britain.
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Nicola Jane Milner is a British archaeologist and academic. She is head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. Her research focuses on the Mesolithic period, and the transition between the Mesolithic and Neolithic. She has worked at the iconic site of Star Carr in the Vale of Pickering for over 15 years, and has directed excavations at the site since 2004.
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