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Star Carr

A Mesolithic site in North Yorkshire

Join the Star Carr Massive Online Open Course (MOOC)

Exploring Stone Age Archaeology: The Mysteries of Star Carr

Discover Star Carr, one of the world's most important archaeological sites, and learn what life was like over 10,000 years ago.

This Massive Online Open Course, presented by FutureLearn on behalf of the Univeristy of York, is free to join. You'll cover topics such as the excavations at Star Carr, the materials people used there in the Mesolithic, and the techniques used to make sense of the site.

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Nicky Milner excavating the site

About Star Carr

Star Carr is a Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) archaeological site, dating to around 9000 BC, just centuries after the end of the last Ice Age. It has become world famous in the archaeological world due to the preservation of artefacts found buried deep in the peat.

Learn more Star Carr excavations

Latest News

Star Carr named Current Archaeology's Research Project of the Year

Life beside the lake wins the prestigious award for 2020. Read more at the Current Archaeology website.

Star Carr monographs now published

Two volumes are available to buy or download from the White Rose Press.

More news

Explore Star Carr

Videos

Watch videos of the excavations, and see the team talk about the site and finds.

Watch

3D Models

View 3D models of the famous antler frontlets.

View

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Museum exhibitions

Antler frontlets are exhibited in a number of museums (Scarborough Rotunda, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Cambridge, The British Museum). The Yorkshire Museum also has an exhibition featuring Star Carr. You can find out more on the Exhibitions page.

Books

Our new book, "Star Carr: Life in Britain after the Ice Age" (which was nominated for Book of the Year) is now available to buy from retailers at RRP £13.

Information for schools

A collection of resources for teachers has been developed as part of the POSTGLACIAL project, based on the Mesolithic site of Star Carr.

Created by public archaeology expert Don Henson, these resources are designed to encourage children to develop and express their own ideas about the period.

For more information, visit the Schools page.

Learn more

FAQs

Can I visit the site?

Unfortunately not! The site is active farmland, and nothing of the original site or excavations remain above ground. You can learn about the site in museum exhibitions.