New radiocarbon accelerator dates on artefacts from the early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire

Dark, P., Higham, T. F. G., Jacobi, R. and Lord, T. C. (2006) New radiocarbon accelerator dates on artefacts from the early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire. Archaeometry, 48. pp. 185-200. ISSN 0003-813X

Abstract/Summary

For the well-known early Mesolithic site of Star Carr, dating of organic artefacts by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has been hampered by treatment of bone and antler recovered during the original excavations with preservatives. Some, untreated, artefacts were, however, collected after Clark's excavation in 1950. Four of these artefacts were AMS dated in 1995, but two of the dates were significantly younger than the others, and were questionable due to their low collagen yields. These suspect samples have now been re-analysed, demonstrating that all four artefacts are of similar date. The significance of these dates for the chronology of Star Carr is discussed.