Post by UKarchaeology on Sept 26, 2015 20:16:48 GMT
Remains of a Stone Age site thought to have been a hunting camp have been unearthed in County Durham.
The "exciting find" was uncovered in Upper Teesdale and dates back to about 7000BC.
Archaeologists began digging at the site after a number of stones were seen sticking out of eroding peat at Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve.
Project leader Paul Frodsham said they were "very lucky" to have found the "important piece of history".
It is thought the site could have been a camp on a route between Yorkshire and Cumbria and was uncovered by volunteers from the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership..
Mr Frodsham believes it could be the earliest one ever excavated in the North Pennines.
He said: "The finds date back to the Mesolithic period, which is the earliest period for which we have evidence for people in the North Pennines.
"Most of the pieces are very small and include chert, which is a locally-found stone, and flint that has probably come from Yorkshire.
"Unfortunately no structures, like houses or wigwams were found, but it was very interesting nonetheless. And it gives us an insight into what life was like in Upper Teesdale and for the first people who lived here after the end of the Ice Age, perhaps 300 generations ago."
In total, about 1,500 pieces were found at the dig by a team from the AONB's Altogether Archaeology Project.
The North Pennines AONB spans spans Cumbria, Northumberland, County Durham and Teesdale.
(pics & source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34125387 )
The "exciting find" was uncovered in Upper Teesdale and dates back to about 7000BC.
Archaeologists began digging at the site after a number of stones were seen sticking out of eroding peat at Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve.
Project leader Paul Frodsham said they were "very lucky" to have found the "important piece of history".
It is thought the site could have been a camp on a route between Yorkshire and Cumbria and was uncovered by volunteers from the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership..
Mr Frodsham believes it could be the earliest one ever excavated in the North Pennines.
He said: "The finds date back to the Mesolithic period, which is the earliest period for which we have evidence for people in the North Pennines.
"Most of the pieces are very small and include chert, which is a locally-found stone, and flint that has probably come from Yorkshire.
"Unfortunately no structures, like houses or wigwams were found, but it was very interesting nonetheless. And it gives us an insight into what life was like in Upper Teesdale and for the first people who lived here after the end of the Ice Age, perhaps 300 generations ago."
In total, about 1,500 pieces were found at the dig by a team from the AONB's Altogether Archaeology Project.
The North Pennines AONB spans spans Cumbria, Northumberland, County Durham and Teesdale.
(pics & source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34125387 )