Henley Archaeological & Historical Group

PROFESSOR Martin Bell, of Reading University, gave a fascinating talk on Mesolithic archaeology in the Severn Estuary to the Henley Archaeological and Historical Group’s meeting on February 4.

The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, period lasted from about 9500BC to 4000BC.

During this time people survived by hunting and gathering before the arrival of farming in the Neolithic period.

Sea levels in the Mesolithic were much lower than they are now and many coastal sites of this period have been submerged.

Prof Bell has spent about 34 years excavating sites in the Severn Estuary.

The most recent excavation he described took place at Goldcliff on the north coast of the estuary on an area of shore which is exposed only briefly during a low tide. Finds from the site of this period are very few, mainly animal bones and flints.

Other signs of human activity were also discovered, such as a hearth and the remains of a wooden fish trap dateable to 4900 to 4700BC.

Perhaps the most spectacular discovery was of human footprints — mainly of children — showing the pattern of movement of people around the site.

The next meeting of the group will be the annual meeting, which will also include brief presentations by members, at the Chantry House in Henley on Tuesday, March 4 at 7pm.

Tony Lynch