A large lake was formed at the end of the Ice Age 11000 years ago It slowly filled up with reeds and trees These rotted and formed peat The old lake was very boggy land for thousands of years but more recently it was drained Now it is used for farming ID: 1017500
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1. AFTER THE ICE: A PLACE CALLED STAR CARRA large lake was formed at the end of the Ice Age 11,000 years ago. It slowly filled up with reeds and trees. These rotted and formed peat. The old lake was very boggy land for thousands of years but more recently it was drained. Now it is used for farming.A wide valley in North YorkshireTodayAt the end of the last Ice Age1
2. Around the edge of the old lake archaeologists found lots of very small blades made of flint. This was the sharpest and strongest material there was until people discovered how to make metal. But the flint blades are very, very small. Smaller than the blades in the razors that we use for shaving. What do you think they could have been used for?Could you kill an animal with one?Could you cut wood with one? 2
3. At a place called Star Carr lots of these small flint blades were found. Excavation there uncovered wood preserved on the old lake bottom. It was dated to 11,000 years old. There were several platforms leading out into the old lake made from trees. What do you think they were used for?3
4. Amongst the wood they found 191 of these barbed spears. They were made from the antlers of the red deer that they hunted. Do the barbs give us a clue about how those very small flint blades, called microliths, could have been used?4
5. ... and here are the pieces of wood put back together.It is the end of a wooden spear shaft with microliths as barbs. Here are some microliths that were found still stuck in wood…5
6. Microliths could have been used in arrows as well as spears.They were stuck in place with the resin from pine trees.6
7. This is the top of a skull of a red deer that has been cut so it can be worn on a human head. Over 30 of these have been found at Star Carr. They are very rare artefacts – no others are known from Britain.Were they worn as disguises so hunters could get closer to deer when they were hunting?Or were they worn in magical ceremonies and dances?7
8. This is a picture drawn just 200 years ago in Siberia, a remote part of Russia. It shows a shaman performing a ceremonial dance. He is wearing a headdress just like those from Star Carr.Perhaps, headdresses were put in the lake after each year’s ceremony.8
9. Is this how they were worn with a leather strap going through the holes?Was the skin of the red deer still attached?Or was it worn as a mask?9
10. On dry land beside the lakeside’s wooden platform archaeologists found a circle of marks in the soil. They showed where posts had rotted away. Putting posts back in the holes(reconstruction) produced this – a house.There must have been lots of houses at Star Carr because it would have taken a lot of people to cut and haul all the wood for the platform. 10
11. This decorated pendant belonged to someone who lived at Star Carr and it was probably worn.The markings on it are very fine – what do you think they represent? Counting? A picture? A language?11
12. This is how archaeologists think Star Carr looked 11,000 years ago. As the land was now covered in forest, people lived at the lake side. They could fish, hunt water birds and gather plants as well as go into the woods to hunt deer and wild cattle. It was an ideal place.12
13. More information, including films, can be found at www.starcarr.com 13