DetectingWales.com

Courtesy of BBC Online 9th November 2010

The discovery of artefacts during gas mains excavations in Monmouth has helped illustrate how the River Wye supported a Stone Age camp.

Archaeologists found flint tools and bone fragments at St James's Square and Wyebridge Street. They indicate hunter-gatherers used the River Wye for food and transport some 6,500 to 7,500 years ago. The late Mesolithic items show there were settlers in the area thousands of years earlier than previously thought. The artefacts were found - during gas mains work - under a former riverbank where the River Wye used to flow before it changed course.

Elizabeth Walker, curator of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Archaeology at National Museum Wales, examined the items after being alerted by Monmouth archaeologist Steve Clarke. Ms Walker said: "It's a nice little group of later Mesolithic flints - middle Stone Age - they are probably around 6,500 or 7,500 years old.

"Among the items are two little flint barbs which would have been hafted [attached] onto a piece of wood or antler and used for fishing or hunting.

"We have also got a scraper from there which might have been used for cleaning the skins or scraping bark and twigs.

"There were also quite a few waste pieces of flint used in making the tools."

Jane Bray, of Monmouth Archaeology, said local archaeologists had been keeping a close eye on the excavation work in the town.Mr Clarke found a fleck of charcoal in the sand of the ancient flood plain alerting them to what was beneath the old river bank.

Mesolithic settlers were hunter-gatherers Ms Bray said: "They have been removing the gas mains in the top end of the town and we've been watching all the trenches as part of that.

"We watch them digging, get in and have a look. These are by far the earliest finds we've had."

The previous earliest known settlement in the town was believed to have been about 2,500 years old. Ms Walker said the find suggested there was some sort of camp beside the river where people were making stone tools.

"They would have been heavily dependent on fish in their diet and they would have been nomadic," she said.

"They would have been near the river in the winter months and maybe up in the hills hunting in the summer.
 
National Museum Wales
 "It's important evidence within the body of evidence about how people were living and what they were doing at this time."

She said there had been significant sites of this type found in Monmouthshire previously, but none next to the river.

The landscape during this period would have been one covered by trees and featuring animals such as deer, wolves and possibly horses.

"We had come out of the last Ice Age and the climate had really improved. All the trees and plants had moved back in," said Ms Walker.

"The people would've come back into Britain following herds of game that had been moving in for the plant food available."

Thanks for flaging this one Neil, Waste flakes are called debutage, and is a definate indicator of habitation on site, rather than casual loss. My FLO likes to see debutage as accurate findspot info adds a lot to the historical record. Usually PAS / museums only get to see the more "choice" finds , implements etc, and these are more likely ,though not always to be casuals.

Thats a really interesting story i always say
to the lads to keep their eyes out for flint
on ploughed ground as we dont know whats
been there before

Thanks for posting that one Neil. I found some flint a few weeks ago in one of my fields. Did a bit of reading up and deceided one was a broken Core, one a Scraper with cortex on one end and back, the other just a flake but from a different core. All identified from picis on the Stone Age Tools Museum site. The scraper fits so nicely in the hand I can't help picking it up and just feeling it, remembering it was used by one of our Ancestors at least 6 thousand years ago. It's my nicest find to date and I didn't need a detector. ::)

Val

Another excellent post Neil and as you know I love the prehistory period. As a closer eye is kept on development and the general public becomes more aware this period can only become more enthralling.

it is indeed a very interesting topic, one wonders if more people would post pictures and info on the stone age tools.

I for one am  :-[ as i am sure would not have a clue if i came across flints or how to recognise them as tools while out detecting.

Hi outlaw, have a look at www.stoneagetools.co.uk (http://www.stoneagetools.co.uk)  it's a good starting point for flint tools.

Val

Nice article Neil, :o
Look out for some when we're down Monmouth next :o
Farmer Phil 8) ;)

A recent talk with Peter Reavill the FLO at the Ludlow rallies informs me the flints numbering 100 plus I handed him last year turned out to be 80% Mesolithic in date and I thought they were just waste flakes. Some of the retouching on them is almost Microscopic.

Here are some typical Mesolithic blades and scrapers. Usually diferanced from the Bronze Age and Neolithic by there tidiness and better quality.

Got around to taking picis of my flints. These I think are Mesolithic. Correct me if I'm wrong.
1st is a broken flint core,  2nd is a little hand scraper, 3rd I'm not sure.
The hand scraper fits just right between the thumb and fingers, it feels as if it would have done the job it was intended for.

Val

Agree Val. No 1 a core for making Blades looks Mesolithic but not sure of scale. No2 a Blade or knife looks Bronze Age and No 3 is another Core and again Mesolithic I think. Nice one Val. Don,t forget to record with your FLO.