Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

“Displaying the Mesolithic – ‘Star Carr: Life after the ice’ at the Yorkshire Musuem”

Adam Parker, Curator of Arachaeology at the Yorkshire Museum

Adam Parker, Curator of Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, will introduce the site of Star Carr – The Mesolithic jewel in the crown of Yorkshire’s incredible archaeology.  And from here introduce the process of creating the exhibition ‘Star Carr: Life after the ice’ based on the thousands of artefacts that have been excavated at the site and the cutting edge research of the University of York team. This is a talk about decision-making, exhibition design, very delicate objects, and helping to bring an under-represented period of British archaeology into the public gaze.”

7pm in the Tempest Anderson Lecture Theatre in the Yorkshire Museum

Image: York Museums Trust

Member’s report

Adam Parker’s presentation on the Yorkshire Museum exhibition Star Carr: Life after the ice was a PowerPoint tale in two halves. The first was a concise description of the site and the artefacts recovered from one of the most famous Mesolithic sites in the world, the second a broad description of the processes involved in setting up the exhibition.

Adam explained that Star Carr was a settlement built around 11,000 years ago on the edge of a prehistoric lake created between ‘the Wolds and the Moors’ as glaciers receded. He emphasised that nowadays there is nothing to see of the site which is five miles south of Scarborough. Much of the material on display comes from recent excavations under the guidance of Professor Nicky Milner from the University of York. Adam pointed out the importance of the excavations directed by Grahame Clarke of the University of Cambridge between 1949 and 1951, motivated by the discovery of flints by local archaeologist John Moore in 1948, and later work by the Vale of Pickering Research Trust in the 1980s.

It was during the second half of the presentation that Adam described the five year long process of setting up the exhibition – from the initial idea through to the opening in March 2024. The key idea for the exhibition was to show that the ‘relationships between people and nature were close, complex and changeable.’ He noted the challenges that the design and curatorial team had in staging the exhibition. They had to consider the unfamiliarity that a certain audience might have with the subject or the mistaken preconceptions of another type of audience. A more practical challenge was the care which would have to be taken of certain delicate objects within the limited budget of £70,000. Limited space was also an issue meaning that it was not possible to design a route through the exhibition. One worry was a need for visitors not to be too reminded of the classical nature of the room’s architecture particularly towards the ceiling. This was partly addressed by having all the display cases set on low plinths making the visitor look down not up. Adam also covered basic design issues such as the word length of labels and the average reading age of visitors.

Of the three hundred objects on display Adam was particularly interested in showing how certain delicate organic objects, including a wooden digging stick and bow, and a number of antler headdresses, were displayed by ingenious customised fittings. These allowed for the key themes of hunting and beliefs to be well interpreted. One of the other key findings of the excavations was the earliest evidence for carpentry in Europe particularly on the timbers which made up the platform that partly extended into the lake. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, it was not possible to display this material, much of which was left on the site and reburied. The most likely star of the show was a small ‘pendant’ crafted from a single piece of shale. The front face is engraved with a series of parallel, incised lines which often cross each other and has a perforation, made by drilling through from the engraved side and is the earliest example of Mesolithic art in Britain. Adam also described with pride the interactive digital mural and soundscape which I’m sure is attracting local residents to make return visits, possibly trying to catch sight of the Mesolithic bear which has been known to appear.

Jeff Taylor