Tuesday 23 April 2013

Mesolithic Horse metatarsal excavated from the Stainton gravel beds

 1- This Horse metatarsal was recently excavated from the same section of previously undisturbed gravel bed at Stainton.

                                           
2 - The black flint scraper was excavated from the bed just to the right of the bottom of the spade, The metatarsal was excavated from slightly further in to the gravel bed. The gravel beds have been dated between 12 to 16,000 ybp this would make these finds almost certainly Mesolithic.
 
 3 - Excavated worked flint
 


 4 - Note the gloss like shine almost all of the bone samples I have excavated from the gravel beds have this shine, nothing has been applied i.e. polish, the bone has been washed dried and rubbed with a cloth nothing more. 
 
                                                                                    

Sunday 21 April 2013

Equus skull piece from Stainsby beck Thornaby on Tees Cleveland .

 1 Note the top of the eye socket is not fully formed.


  This horse skull piece is from the lake bed deposits at Stainsby beck.

Many mammals have a small supra-orbital foramen just above the eye socket which communicates from the outside surface of the skull above the orbit to the interior of the orbital cavity.  Sometimes this foramen fails to fully form, and is open to the edge of the orbital rim, as in your horse.

The explanation above is from Richard White a Palaeontologist from Tucson in the United States, a trusted friend and advisor.


       
    

Saturday 20 April 2013

Mesolithic tools and carved bones from the Stainton gravel beds.

 
 1 - I found this worked stone about 3 years ago in Stainton beck, I am certain it was washed from the gravel beds, I believe it was some sort of shaft smoother. 
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 8 - If ime honest I can not remember the beck location I found this piece, at first I paid it little attention, thinking it just to be a worn Equus Metatarsal but I now know it to either have been a tool of some sort or a religious or symbolic artifact. The lighter coloured material is actually preserved wood, that has been inserted into the bone.
 9
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 11- 14 This piece I found very close to the stone tool in the first images, I found these pieces a long time ago before I had started any excavating, but have never been in any doubt that they were tools of some sort.
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 14

 15 - 19 Digging tools

 16

 17

 18

 19


 20 - 22 Carved bone .

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 22



 23 - Carved Artefact

  
 23 - Digging tools found at the Orme bronze age copper mines in Wales.
 
 
 24 a - Fire starter ?
 
 
 b

 c
 
 
 
 
 25 a - Worked flint

 b

 c

 d

 e
 
 
 
 26 a -  More worked bone

 b
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HISTORY OF A BECK: The Stainton gravel beds

    HISTORY OF A BECK: Storregga slides Stunami theory


 
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Wednesday 17 April 2013

Mesolithic worked flint excavated from the Stainton gravel beds.

This piece of Mesolithic black worked flint was excavated recently from the tightly packed Stainton gravel beds at Stainton Beck, along with minerals and preserved mammal rib bone fragments, and much older Jurassic Fossils.

 1 The Stainton gravel beds are outlined in red.

 2 The Alluvium is outlined in orange.

3 The flint piece was excavated to the bottom right hand side of the spade, along with mammal rib bone fragments.

 4 The gravel beds again average 300 mm thick.
 
 5 - The advice Ive been given so far points to there being little doubt, that this piece is a finely worked flint tool.

 6

 7

 8 - This image shows what must surly be a worked edge.

 9 I have recently been informed by Peter Row of Tees Archaeology that this piece was probably a scraper, the link below was supplied by Peter.