A stone age viewpoint from which historical individuals scanned the panorama for prey has been pinpointed by archaeologists and volunteer helpers on a windswept Devon moor.
Greater than 80 items of flint have been recovered throughout excavations of the spot, which is now farmland close to the village of Lustleigh on Dartmoor.
The archaeologists consider historical individuals had been engaged on flint cobbles to make instruments about 8,000 years in the past whereas conserving cautious watch on the panorama for pink deer, boar and probably even reindeer.
Emma Stockley, who’s main a venture to seek out and defend lithic scatters – areas the place flints have been labored on – stated the invention was thrilling.
“It’s entirely possible this site may have been a viewing point for prey. It’s got really stunning views into surrounding valleys and into the high moor,” she stated.
Stockley, a College of Leicester PhD scholar, is utilizing laptop modelling to foretell the place lithic scatters could also be discovered on Dartmoor.
She stated the websites tended to be within the kind of locations the place fashionable guests would possibly cease to relaxation. “Imagine you go to Dartmoor and want to find a picnic spot. The chances are you will be choosing a spot that is very similar in nature to the spots in the landscape our hunter-gatherer communities chose.
“They tend to face south, have far-reaching views and be on flat spots. They’re not necessarily right on the top – they might be in more sheltered positions.”
Stockley stated she was fascinated by the thought of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers on Dartmoor. “This is the last time we were hunter-gatherers roaming the landscape following migrating prey for food, foraging and making use of the environment in quite a sustainable way.”
A lot of the 80 items discovered close to Lustleigh had been the waste product from the manufacturing course of, although some small instruments have additionally been found.
“We know they are manufacturing tools because we are finding all parts of the process,” stated Stockley. “Flint is not native to Dartmoor, so any piece we find has been brought to Dartmoor by a human.”
Dartmoor nationwide park archaeologist Lee Bray, who’s supervising the dig, stated: “Not only will this research add to our knowledge of this important period in Dartmoor’s human past but it will also help us develop techniques for managing Dartmoor’s archaeological heritage so the landscape is better understood, valued and looked after.”
