Followers of the Cayton and Flixton Wetland Project will be aware that The Carrs represent an important stone age landscape beneath the peat soils with numerous Mesolithic sites of human activity around the shore of a former lake ten thousand years ago, Lake Flixton, centred on the modern day Hertford River.
The most famous site is Star Carr, just south of the river about 1km east of the A64 bridge. This now looks set for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument by English Heritage. This summer's fresh digs are crucial to finding out how much of the site's features are still recoverable and to influence how best the site can be managed in the future. Researchers from the York, Manchester and London are collaborating with a wide range of specialists to assess the condition of remaining artefacts and palaeo-environmental evidence.
Already an agreement has been reached with the landowners to keep the site under grass rather than cultivating it and not to carry out any additional drainage work. The designation of the site will encompass a ridge of ground which was a small peninsula of shoreline on Lake Flixton and has over the years yielded remarkable evidence of human activity 9600years ago.
A public seminar day about Star Carr, held at Scarbourough's Woodend Centre on 31st July which was fully booked with over 50 attendees. On 1st August the public were invited to visit the digs at the Seamer site and see work in progress. A further visit day, aimed at Heritage Sector professionals is planned for Friday 6th August.
