The deer hunters: Star Carr reconsidered

Reassessment of Seasonality at the Early Mesolithic Site of Star Carr, Yorkshire Based on Radiographs of Mandibular Tooth Development in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)

“…The interpretation by Legge & Rowley-Conwy (1988) that Star Carr was a summer hunting camp must now be questioned. The proposals that the site was either a base camp (Jacobi, 1978, Price, 1982 or intermittently occupied throughout the year (Pitts, 1979, Andresen et al, 1981 require revisiting in the light of these results. The criteria that sedentary occupation can only be considered at sites where the late winter and spring resource gap has been closed (Jacobi, 1987) appears to have been met at Star Carr.…”

“…Fraser & King proposed winter and spring occupation based upon red deer, roe deer and elk antler evidence. Since then reassessments of the faunal material include the use of analogous modelling (Clark, 1972), and assessment of body part representation (Andresen et al, 1981). More recently a comprehensive re-analysis of the large mammals from the site was undertaken by Legge & RowleyConwy (1988) and for the first time the bones and teeth of elk (Alces alces), red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), wild pig (Sus scrofa) and aurochs (Bos primigenius) were systematically examined.…”

Mesolithic Environments at Star Carr, the Eastern Vale of Pickering and Environs: Local and Regional Contexts

“…Elk also occurred, a species particularly associated with wetland habitats, although the other large ungulates also prefer to feed at lake-edge zone environments because of their high resource levels. Subsistence strategies at Star Carr apparently focused on these concentrated and predictable populations of large game animals (Andresen et al 1981) and their remains at Star Carr are abundant (Clark 1954;Legge and Rowley-Conwy 1988;Mellars 1998) although the faunal assemblage includes a wide range of bird species and many other, smaller, fauna. Fish remains are surprisingly lacking at Star Carr, but this does not mean fish were not exploited there (Price 1982) and in general they must have made a significant contribution to the Mesolithic diet.…”

Age estimation of the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) mandibles from the Mesolithic site of Star Carr, Yorkshire, based on radiographs of mandibular tooth development

“…At the outset, seasonality has been an issue at the site, with Fraser & King suggesting a winter and spring occupation based upon red deer, roe deer, and elk antler evidence. The intervening years have seen various reassessments of the faunal material, employing interpretative techniques such as analogous modelling (Clark, 1972), and others relying on body part representation (Andresen et al, 1981). A complete re-analysis of the large mammals from the site was undertaken by , and for the first time since their excavation, the bones and teeth of elk (Alces ulces), red deer (Cervus eluphus), roe deer (Cupreolus cupreolus), wild pig (Sus scrqfa), and aurochs (Bos primigenius) were comprehensively re-examined.…”