YORK, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by the University of York, researchers from the University of York and the University of Newcastle conducted a microscopic examination of hunter-gatherer tools found inside three structures at North Yorkshire’s Star Carr site, and determined that the work conducted within the dwellings had been well organized. The 11,000-year-old structures were made of wood from felled trees, reeds, and perhaps animal hides, and are thought to have either been cone-shaped or to have had a domed roof. The study suggests that wood, bone, antler, plants, hides, meat, and fish were all processed in the structures. “We found that there were distinct areas for different types of activity, so the messy activity involving butchery, for example, was done in what appears to be a designated space, and separate to the ‘cleaner’ tasks such as crafting bone and wooden objects, tools, or jewelry,” said Jess Bates of the University of York. There also seems to have been a shared group understanding of how these tasks should have been organized, she added. “[I]n the deep past, communities were highly mobile, so it is fascinating to see that despite this, there is still this concept of keeping an orderly home space,” Bates concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. To read about an engraved shale pendant found at Star Carr, go to "Mesolithic Markings."
