11,000-Year-Old Engraved Pendant is Britain’s Earliest Known Mesolithic Art

When Prof. Nicky Milner, of the Univ. of York’s Dept. of Archaeology, was 15-years-old, she went on an Anglo Saxon excavation. The trip was only supposed to last three days, but the budding archaeologist ended up staying for six weeks.

“The fact that you can touch things that have been in the ground for thousands of years thrilled me,” she told R&D Magazine of her early interest in archaeology.

But five miles away from where Milner grew up sat a treasure trove of archaeological goodies. Located in North Yorkshire, the Star Carr site was famously excavated by Grahame Clark between 1949 and 1951, and changed archeologists’ understanding of people from the Mesolithic Period. The earliest known house in Britain, the oldest evidence of carpentry in Europe, and headdresses made from red deer skulls and antlers (possibly worn by shamans who communed with the animal spirit world), all were found at the site.

“People here were not passing by—they were building structures and making their homes around the edge of the lake,” said Milner, noting that these ancient people weren’t the typical nomadic hunter-gatherers.

Eventually, Milner started volunteering with the Vale of Pickering Research Trust, which led to her directing excavations at the Star Carr site. “I couldn’t believe that such an amazing site lay on my doorstep,” she said. “I never imagined I would be so lucky to get to excavate it.”

What’s more, Milner was part of a team that last year uncovered an 11,000-year-old pendant from the site. And the discovery is being called the “earliest known Mesolithic art in Britain.” Their research was published in Internet Archaeology, and the pendant will be on display for the public from Feb. 27 until May 5 at the Yorkshire Museum.

The 31 mm by 35 mm perforated pendant was discovered submerged in a swampy environment. At first, the engravings were invisible, but further examination revealed the linear lines.

In Mesolithic Europe, pendants were commonly made from materials like amber, bone, and antler. But the Star Carr pendant is shale, and to Milner and colleagues’ knowledge, it’s the first instance of an engraved pendant being made of shale.

“It is very hard to say why it was made from shale but it may have been the shape of this particular piece,” Milner said. “It is a very pleasing shape—more or less a triangle—and we think it was probably naturally that shape rather than having been made into that shape.”

According to study co-author Chantal Conneller, of The Univ. of Manchester, the pendant’s designs are similar to those found in southern Scandinavia and near the border of the North Sea, which indicates a close cultural connection between the areas.

The researchers postulated that the markings may represent a tree, a map, a leaf, or tally marks.

“Personally, I like the tally mark idea,” said Milner. “When I first saw it—and the lines were not so clear—I thought it looked like a tree. But using our imaging techniques we are able to see the lines more clearly and can see lots of very small lines at right angles to some of the longer lines.”

“I wonder whether they were using them for counting something,” she added. “But because the pendant was also found close to finds of headdresses I also wonder whether there may be a connection to shamanism.”