The Mesolithic landscape that paved the way for Stonehenge
In short: Before the iconic standing stones rose, the landscape was already a thriving hub. New evidence from Blick Mead suggests the area wasn't a dense forest, but an open woodland that may have pre-adapted the terrain for the massive ritual monuments that followed.
For decades, the origins of the Stonehenge landscape remained a mystery due to a lack of data. Traditional theories suggested the area was once covered in thick, closed-canopy forests that required massive clearing for later farming and monument building. However, excavations at Blick Mead, located about 1 to 2 km from the stones, have challenged this view.
Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Buckingham discovered that during the later Mesolithic period, the land consisted of open woodland and meadow-like clearings. This environment supported large grazing herbivores, including aurochs, red deer, elk, and wild boar. In fact, aurochs remains were so abundant that they represented 61% of identified bones at the site—the highest concentration found nationally.
The site shows a continuous occupation spanning nearly 4,000 years, with a radiocarbon date sequence covering every millennium between the 8th and 5th millennia BC. This provides a crucial missing link in the occupational sequence of the Stonehenge area. By analyzing pollen, fungal spores, and ancient DNA preserved in sediment, scientists suggest a continuity between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and later Neolithic monument-builders, both of whom found the location to be a favorable location for activity.
The discovery of this spring-fed site is significant because many potential pre-Stonehenge residential sites had been overlooked because they were located on floodplains. The Blick Mead project has uncovered 11,727 flint artifacts, revealing extensive tool production and a complex settlement that predates the famous ritual landscape.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: 'The Cradle of Stonehenge'? Blick Mead - a Mesolithic Site in the Stonehenge Landscape - Professor D
- Also: 'The Cradle of Stonehenge'? Blick Mead - a Mesolithic Site in the Stonehenge Landscape
- Also: Study Reveals Stonehenge Landscape Before The World-Famous Monument | University of Southampton
- Also: Mesolithic settlement near Stonehenge: excavations at Blick Mead, Vespasian’s Camp, Amesbury
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