Today's Object of the Week is Britain's oldest known house, which dates back 11,000 years.
Just what would it have been like to build and live in a house 11,000 years ago?
Turns out our ancestors were not just surviving, they were thriving and this summer, visitors to York’s Museum Gardens can see the challenges of building a Mesolithic house for themselves and find out more about these ancient people’s lives.
A team from York Museums Trust, the University of York and various experts in ancient technology and archaeology will start the build in York’s Museum Gardens on August 7.
They aim to demonstrate the challenges our ancestors faced building a Mesolithic house 11,000 years ago.
The creation will be based on evidence from the archaeological site at Star Carr in Yorkshire, known for its world famous prehistoric discoveries, including evidence from Britain’s oldest known house.
The team will adopt techniques and use materials available over a millennium ago, such as stone tools and plant materials.
It is a project designed to propel visitors back to North Yorkshire 11,000 years in the past.
Dr Adam Parker, Curator of Archaeology at York Museums Trust, said: "This is an extraordinary opportunity to experience a Mesolithic build, using evidence based information such as the tools and the resources, much of which we are showing in the museum.
"Taking our lead from Star Carr, we are able to harness and harvest materials from the environment that will be similar to the components these people utilised all those years ago.
"It’s a chance for visitors to see the process and the results and we’re expecting everyone to get very hands on with the making of matting and twine.
"Displays at the Yorkshire Museum includes the original implements and items left behind from the lives that unfolded there.
"It’s a chance to get to know and understand a relatively unknown period of history in a fun and open way for all ages."
The project is being lead by Professor Nicky Milner, Head of Archaeology, and Dr Jess Bates, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of York, alongside experts Diederik Pomstra and Leo Wolterbeek.
The project is supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Professor Milner said: "It is a rare opportunity to really demonstrate the immense skill and ingenuity of Mesolithic people.
"We hope it will transport visitors back to life in North Yorkshire over 11,000 years ago!"
The recreation of the Mesolithic house accompanies an exhibition inside the Yorkshire Museum entitled ‘Life After the Ice’, offering an opportunity to learn about the astonishing site of Star Carr, with its many tools, objects, and ritual artefacts discovered there.
Read about previous Objects of the Week here:
- York railway station work reveals Victorian pavement and more
- Druid's Temple folly is North Yorkshire's Stonehenge
- Locomotion No 1 went over Skerne Bridge, Darlington, in 1825
The house is expected to be complete by August 11 and remain in place until September 1.
Additionally, from August 7-11, the University of York will host a range of activities, including hands-on opportunities, daily talks and demonstrations by the team who initially excavated Star Carr.
This will give visitors an even more detailed understanding of daily life as it was in the Mesolithic period.
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