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2. MESOLITHIC (c.9500 – c.4000 cal BC): RESEARCH AGENDA

Click here to see the recommended strategic objectives for this period.

2.1 Periods of transition

2.1.1: What can we deduce about the transition from late-glacial to early post-glacial hunter-gatherer societies?

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Linked Strategy(s):
2A – Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, 2B – Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, 2C – Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, 2G – Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
Dating techniques, Mesolithic, Lithic implement, Hunting site

2.1.2: What can analyses of sites contribute to studies of continuity and change during the Mesolithic period?

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Linked Strategy(s):
2A – Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, 2B – Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, 2C – Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, 2D – Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic, 2G – Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
Mesolithic, Agriculture and subsistence, Human remains, Archaeological feature, Flint, Animal, Bone, Human aspects, Physical techniques, Mineral, Domestic, Open site, Occupation site, Tools and equipment

2.1.3: How may we elucidate further the transition from the later Mesolithic to the earlier Neolithic?

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Linked Strategy(s):
2A – Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, 2B – Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, 2D – Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic, 2G – Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci, 2H – Investigate the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
Dating techniques, Agriculture and subsistence, Archaeological feature, Flint, Animal, Bone, Human aspects, Physical techniques, Mineral, Domestic, Open site, Occupation site, Tools and equipment, Late mesolithic, Early neolithic

2.2 Spatial distribution of activity

2.2.1: How were open-air and cave/rock shelter sites distributed across the region, and how might the pattern of activity have changed over time?

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Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MONUMENT, DATING TECHNIQUES, MESOLITHIC, CAVE, FEATURE, CAVE DEPOSIT, SITE, OPEN SITE, TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT, PALAEOCHANNEL
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic, Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci, Exploring Doggerland: target submarine landscapes and the modern coastline

2.2.2: How were sites distributed across low-lying and upland areas, and in particular how many sites might be concealed beneath alluvium, colluvium and other masking deposits or beneath the sea?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC, ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURE, PHYSICAL TECHNIQUES, DEPOSIT, ALLUVIUM, CAVE DEPOSIT, DOMESTIC, OPEN SITE, OCCUPATION SITE, PALAEOCHANNEL, UNASSIGNED, COLLUVIUM
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic, Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci, Exploring Doggerland: target submarine landscapes and the modern coastline

2.2.3: How can HER records be updated to permit study of changing activity patterns between the earlier and later Mesolithic periods?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
DATING TECHNIQUES, MESOLITHIC, ARTEFACT SCATTER, ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURE, PHYSICAL TECHNIQUES, DEPOSIT, SITE, OCCUPATION SITE, TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT, UNASSIGNED
Linked Strategy(s):
Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic

2.2.4: How can we ensure the extension of fieldwalking surveys to previously untargeted areas, and in particular to comparatively poorly studied landscapes (e.g. Coal Measures)?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC, SITE, PALAEOCHANNEL, UNASSIGNED
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci

2.3 Identification of site types

2.3.1: How were caves and rock shelters utilised in this period and what was their relationship to open sites?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC, DOMESTIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci

2.3.2: How far may studies of the size, shape and locational characteristics of lithic scatters and analyses of the associated lithic artefacts contribute to the identification of site types in the later and earlier Mesolithic?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
RADIOCARBON DATING, MESOLITHIC, LITHIC IMPLEMENT, PHYSICAL TECHNIQUES, SITE, OCCUPATION SITE, LITHIC SCATTER
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic

2.3.3: What range of structural remains may survive on open-air sites across the region (particularly below alluvium and other masking deposits)?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
01/10/2019
Date of next review:
01/10/2024
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Investigate the topographic locations of activity foci, Exploring Doggerland: target submarine landscapes and the modern coastline

2.3.4: How can we enhance the lithic scatter data retrieved during fieldwalking to clarify the size and shape of activity foci?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity

2.3.5: How far can we elucidate by targeted excavation the character of sites represented by surface lithic scatters?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity

2.4 Lithic artefact chronologies

2.4.1: Can we refine further by detailed typological analyses of survey and excavation the chronology of Mesolithic lithic industries, and in particular those overlapping Late Upper Palaeolithic and earlier Neolithic traditions?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic, Investigate the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic

2.4.2: How far may radiocarbon dating contribute to refinement of lithic artefact chronologies?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic, Investigate the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic

2.4.3: Can we elucidate the potential impact of environmental change upon lithic artefact technology?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic

2.4.4: Can we shed further light upon variations in the lithic assemblages surviving in earlier and later Mesolithic industries?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic

2.5 Production, distribution and use of lithic artefacts

2.5.1: How precisely can we define the sources of lithic raw materials and the routes of movement of raw materials and/or finished artefacts?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Provenancing lithic raw materials: identify patterns of mobility, Develop a regional lithic raw material reference collection

2.5.2: Can we define with greater precision the spatial extent of typologically distinctive lithic assemblage types (Star Carr-type, Deepcar-type, etc.) and what may these distribution patterns imply?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic

2.5.3: What light may further site-based studies of lithic reduction sequences shed upon spatial and temporal variations in the organisation of lithic production and changes in lithic technology?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Characterise the regional and local evidence for Mesolithic activity, Investigate further the earlier Mesolithic lithic resource, Identify changing patterns of lithic artefact use in the later Mesolithic

2.6 Environmental change and food procurement strategies

2.6.1: What can analyses of cave deposits, palaeochannel fills, upland peats and other deposits with potential for preserved pollen, charcoal and other organic remains contribute to studies of the earliest stages of woodland clearance and plant domestication?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, Investigate the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic, Exploring Doggerland: target submarine landscapes and the modern coastline

2.6.2: How can we maximise the potential of palaeochannels, upland or coastal peats and other organically rich deposits as sources of data on Early Holocene landscapes and changes in subsistence strategies and diet?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, Investigate the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic, Exploring Doggerland: target submarine landscapes and the modern coastline

2.6.3: How far may studies of Mesolithic diet and mobility patterns be advanced by stable isotope analyses of human bone?

More information on this question
Status:
Active
Date accepted:
05/06/2019
Date of next review:
05/06/2021
Found in the following Frameworks:
East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework
Categories:
MESOLITHIC
Linked Strategy(s):
Enhance understanding of the environmental background to Mesolithic activity, Investigate the transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic, Exploring Doggerland: target submarine landscapes and the modern coastline