Evidence that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were environmentally aware home builders has emerged a mile from Stonehenge – together with a stone age version of the storage heater.
Archaeologists have expressed astonishment at the 6,000-year-old discovery – the stone age equivalent of an eco home – in a heavily wooded spot 15 metres away from the busy A303 in Wiltshire.
The project’s director, David Jacques, said the discovery may mean we have to reassess what we know about Stonehenge and what the ritual landscape tells us. He also fears the evidence of “the sort of place the first Brits lived in” could be lost or damaged if the government presses ahead with plans to bury the A303 in a tunnel under the World Heritage Site.
Archaeologists have found evidence that a big tree fell over and its base provided a wall which was then lined with flint. The pit left by the fallen tree was lined with cobbles, and a wooden post was put in the ground 10 metres away to support a thatched or animal skin roof.
Sensibly, the hunter-gatherers built their fire away from the roof, keeping warm by heating large stones by the fire and placing them close to where people slept. “They acted like a storage heater would do now,” said Jacques. All of which suggests a level of sophistication not normally attributed to our Mesolithic ancestors.
Jacques said: “Rather than seeing these people as making do with anything nature happens to throw up, a better way is that, environmentally, they are amazingly well attuned and have a skilful and sophisticated understanding of the landscape. They are adapting themselves around it.”
Radiocarbon dating of the wooden post suggests it is from 4336BC to 4246BC – the early Neolithic period – which has a knock-on effect on our wider understanding of Stonehenge.
Rather than it being assumed, said Jaques, that the prehistoric ritual landscape was built by Neolithic people arriving from the continent to emptiness, “it looks as though they are meeting with a long-lasting Mesolithic community ... therefore Stonehenge becomes a much more multi-cultural place.
“We may need to look again at the establishment of the ritual landscape, it might be saying more about Mesolithic ancestors than we have realised.”
Jacques said it represents a real paradigm shift in our knowledge. “It is suggesting that Stonehenge has got a back story and we have found a missing link to it.”
Jacques has led University of Buckingham digs at Blick Mead for nearly a decade, believing the area is key to the beginnings of people living in Britain because evidence of occupancy stretches from 7600BC to 4246BC – 3,000 years, spanning the time Britain was not an island to the time it was.
Other discoveries in the area include evidence of Mesolithic people feasting on aurochs (huge oxen), salmon, trout, hazelnuts and even frog’s legs, around eight millennia before they became a French staple.
Jacques is now concerned that the proposed tunnel for the A303 would scupper future work as it could run within 20 metres of the eco house discovery.
Officials from Unesco and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) were visiting the site on Wednesday to assess the plans and Jacques will address a meeting on Thursday.
The government announced plans for a 2.9km tunnel for the busy road in December last year. Jacques is fiercely opposed. He said the intuitive way Mesolithic people adapted to their environment was “in contrast to our government in the 21st century who expect nature and our history to adapt to our needs to build a tunnel through this precious countryside.”
There are many supporters of the tunnel, including Historic England, the National Trust and English Heritage. A joint statement from all three said the scheme was still at the early stages and there was no detailed design proposed.
It continued: “Our understanding of Blick Mead will no doubt be enhanced by the work recently undertaken by the University of Buckingham and we are confident its importance will be taken into consideration as the various options for the government’s road scheme are developed. We look forward to hearing more about this important mesolithic site and seeing the full academic results.”
