For this blog, I’m in Howick on the beautiful Northumberland coast! We’re looking into the world of Mesolithic Britain, exploring the lives of the early hunter-gatherers who called these islands home. And we can’t talk about Mesolithic Britain without mentioning a famous figure from this era – Cheddar Man!
Who was Cheddar Man?
Cheddar Man is like a celebrity of the Mesolithic period. He was a young man in his early twenties who lived during the very early Mesolithic era. His remains were discovered in a cave in Cheddar Gorge in the south of England, which provided a unique environment that preserved his body for thousands of years.
Through advances in genetic research, we’ve been able to extract DNA from Cheddar Man, giving us remarkable insights into the lives of these early Britons. It’s truly fascinating, but I have to admit – I’m no geneticist! If you want to learn more about the science, I’ll include some fantastic resources for you to explore. My job is to tell the story, bring it to life, and help people understand our shared past.
The two Mesolithic populations
During the Mesolithic period, there were two main groups of hunter-gatherers in the British Isles. The first group came from the south of France, and they were originally reindeer hunters. These people were skilled with broad-bladed microliths – small stone tools used for hunting. As they moved into the British Isles, they adapted these skills to hunt animals like deer, cattle, and boar. They mostly settled inland, focusing on the woodlands of southern Britain.
Around the same time, a second group known as the narrow-bladed microlith users began arriving in Britain. This group came from eastern Europe, around the Baltic region, and moved across what is now the North Sea via Doggerland – a large, now-submerged plain that connected Britain to mainland Europe. They settled along the east coast, with Howick (just up the coast from where we are today) being one of their key sites.
Howick House and coastal life
One of the fascinating discoveries here on the Northumberland coast is the site known as Howick House, a Mesolithic settlement occupied around 7700 BC. This site gives us a glimpse into the lives of the narrow-bladed microlith users. Unlike the inland hunters, these people lived a more coastal lifestyle, relying on marine resources. They hunted fish, seabirds, and collected eggs, and hazelnuts were a significant part of their diet – something shared by both Mesolithic groups.
They also hunted wild boar, suggesting that over time, they adapted to both coastal and terrestrial hunting. From around Howick, they spread northwards, settling along the coast as far as Dunbar in Scotland, and then moved along the west coast of Britain and into Ireland.
By 7500 BC, they had established settlements all along the coastal regions, and they began to move inland, hunting larger animals like cattle and boar. Despite this inland expansion, the coast remained a defining feature of their way of life.
The mystery of Mesolithic burial practices
One of the interesting aspects of the Mesolithic populations is that we haven’t found many human remains. Unlike Cheddar Man, who was preserved in a cave, most of the Mesolithic people seemed to have practiced a form of open-air burial called exhumation. This means that after death, bodies were left exposed, and animals likely scavenged them. As a result, their bones decomposed over time, leaving us without much physical evidence of these early communities.
This makes Cheddar Man an especially important find, as he provides a rare glimpse into the genetic makeup of Mesolithic Britons. We know that Cheddar Man’s population was part of a broader group of western European hunter-gatherers, but there were likely other groups throughout Europe whose stories remain untold due to the lack of preserved remains.
A tale of two groups
In summary, Mesolithic Britain was home to two different populations – one focused on inland, terrestrial life, and the other on coastal, marine life. These groups coexisted and eventually began to share skills and resources. By studying their tools and settlement sites, like Howick House, we’ve learned that they weren’t isolated; they adapted and evolved to thrive in the varied landscapes of the British Isles.
The narrow-bladed microlith users likely used the river valleys along the east coast – the Tay, Tweed, Tyne, Wear, and Tees – as routes to explore further inland, allowing them to hunt and gather resources along the way. Their adaptability and resourcefulness enabled them to survive and prosper, no matter the challenges they faced.
As we continue to explore the Mesolithic period, we might uncover more about these early settlers. Maybe future archaeological discoveries or advances in genetic research will reveal even more about the lives of these fascinating people who shaped the early history of Britain.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey into Mesolithic Britain and learned a little more about these early inhabitants. If you have questions or want to learn more, please do comment below or check out some of the resources I’ll link to.
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