Aug 11, 2010

Oldest house in Britain discovered to be 11,500 years old


The home is so old that when it was built Britain was still part of Continental Europe. The circular structure near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, which dates back to the Stone Age 8,500 years BC, was found next to a former lake.

The house predates the dwelling previously thought to be Britain’s oldest, at Howick, Northumberland, by at least 500 years. The team said they are also excavating a large wooden platform made of timbers which have been split and hewn. It is thought to be the earliest evidence of carpentry in Europe.

Dr Chantal Conneller and Barry Taylor from the University of Manchester have been working with Dr Nicky Milner from the University of York at Star Carr since 2004. The house was first excavated by the team two years ago.

According to the archaeologists, the site was inhabited by hunter-gatherers from just after the last Ice Age, for between 200 and 500 years.

Read more at The Telegraph

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