Working against the tide

Painstaking search
Searching back over 8,000 years to the Mesolithic period can be a painstaking job. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle of the time leaves little evidence as people lived mobile lives not requiring permanent structures or long-term settlement. The evidence left is often very scant with large volumes of soil producing just a few fish bones and the odd small flint tool (called microliths) that are synonymous with this period.

'The word microlith comes from "micro" meaning small, and "litho" meaning stone,' says flint expert and Time Team regular Phil Harding. 'These small tools are very versatile and were used in a variety of ways.'

New digging technique
To excavate the site on the foreshore at Goldcliff Time Team used a new technique. Regular digger Dan Dodds explains: 'Time was limited on site because of the tide. We only had a small window of opportunity, so we used a technique that involved removing blocks of clay from the site, and then excavating them later back at our base near the incident room.'

Using metal tins to contain the clay, the blocks were recorded in situ and then removed. At the base they were set out on a table within a grid to accurately reconstruct the original surface. Each block was then carefully excavated to try to find traces of Mesolithic material. After the blocks had been completely excavated away, the clay spoil was then processed by flotation to look for further evidence.

'We could only get onto site between 1pm and 3pm,' continues Dan. 'So much of the morning was spent drinking tea and having a natter.'

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