Palaeolithic to Mesolithic Oxford (500000 - 4000 BC) - Oxford City ...

Robinson 1993). Within the LAA samples taken during archaeological investigations
at Minchery Farm (Kassam Football Stadium OHER 16787) cover the period from
when the climate was predominately sedges and grasses characteristic of the late
glacial tundra, to the present (Parker and Anderson 1996).
As the Mesolithic progressed increased woodland provided a dryer climate and
reduced sedimentation (Hey and Roberts 2010). Evidence from peat deposits
discovered during archaeological investigations at St Aldates for example indicated
shallow, standing water during the later Mesolithic at about 7200-6900 calibrated
years BC (8170±130 BP OxA-4354) (Robinson and Lambrick 1984).
Deposits of peat and tufa (formed through the development of waterlogged ground
where the clays and limestones meet) can provide environmental evidence for
climate change during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. In the Upper Thames Valley
several ongoing projects carried out by Oxford Brookes University and by the
Geological Conservation Review have identified peat and tufa deposits across the
region and have provided environmental sequences from around 10,000 BP to the
present (Parker and Anderson 1996: Parker and Goudie 1998; Parker 2000; Day
1990; 1991).
Detailed summaries of two sites within or close to Oxford have been published; one
outsite the LAA at Sidlings Copse (Day 1990; 1991) covers a period from around ca
9500 yr BP to the present and one inside the LAA at Minchery Farm (Parker and
Anderson 1998) from around ca 13,000 yr BP to the present. The Minchery Farm
samples indicate the gradual spread of oak, hazel, elm and alder from around ca
10,000 yr BP (ibid.). There areas of shallow water would have gradually become
reedswamp, then marsh before finally becoming woodland (Robinson 2003).
Environmental evidence from sites such as Mingies Ditch and Farmoor indicate a
steady increase in woodland and by the middle of the 6 th millennium BC, the region
was likely densely covered by a mixture of deciduous woodland trees (Robinson and
Wilson n.d). For example an organic deposit from a channel of the Windrush at
Minges Ditch produced evidence for dense Alder Woodland dating to 5630-5340 cal
BC (HAR-8355: 6540+__80BP) (Morigi, Schreve and White 2011: 180). A distinct
decline in woodland is noted in Upper Thames pollen sequences from around ca
5000 yr BP onwards (known as ‘The Elm Decline’) (Parker 2000; Parker et al. 2002).
Evidence for The Elm Decline in the region is often followed by evidence for
agricultural activity in pollen sequences, however the relationship between possible
causes (elm disease, tree clearance for agriculture, climatic change) remain
uncertain (Morigi, Schreve and White 2011: 181-2).
Mesolithic artefacts
In has been suggested that Mesolithic sites in Oxford were primarily located on
sandy geologies such as the Corallian Ridge to the east and west of the city (Case
1952-3). At Minchery Farm, Littlemore a small quantity of Mesolithic debitage; flakes
with cortex, cores and core rejuvenation flakes indicated that knapping took place in
the near vicinity (RPS 2001). The recovery of a small amount of late Mesolithic or
early Neolithic flintwork at the Manor Ground, London Road, Headington (Hart 2003)
and at Oxford Science Park, Littlemore (Moore 2002: 216) is also consistent with the
documented spread of Mesolithic activity from initial sites close to the Thames (e.g.
Abingdon) to higher ground beyond the immediate environs of the river. Comparable
sites at these higher elevations have been identified at Hatford, Longworth and
Fawler (Case 1986). Elsewhere on the Corallian ridge at Littlemore Hospital a lithic
scatter was discovered comprising of 18 flakes, one axe trimming flake, one crested
blade, one end scraper and one microlith (OHER 16602). Further west a collection of
seven residual flint flakes of likely Mesolithic date were recovered during an
OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT- PALAEOLITHIC TO
MESOLITHIC 14