Prehistoric Cumbria describes the English county of Cumbria prior to the Romans Period. This includes the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. As of 2010, 443 stone tools, 187 metal objects and 134 ceramic pots, have been unearthed in Cumbria. Likewise, various monuments, such as henges and stone circles, are widespread in the region. The survival of these monuments and objects has been influenced by processes such as the rise in sea levels on the west coast, erosion, deposition practices, industrial and agricultural development, and the changing interests and capabilities of antiquarians and archaeologists.Barrowclough (2010), p.11-30
The first permanent inhabitants of the Cumbria region were based in caves during the Mesolithic era. The Neolithic saw the construction of monuments and the running of the axe 'factory' from which stone axes were carried around the country. The Bronze Age saw continuity with the Neolithic way of living and Iron Age Cumbria saw the establishment of Celtic tribes in the region - possibly those called the Carvetii and Setantii by the Romans.
Earliest human inhabitants: the Late Upper Palaeolithic, c.12670–9600 BC
Evidence for human (homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthal) occupation of Britain goes back to c.700,000 years ago. The presence in Britain of homo sapiens can be detected at around 27,000-26,000BC (at Paviland Cave, South Wales).Barton (2009), p.18-25
During the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 26,000 and 19,000 years ago (24,000-17,000BC), Cumbria would have been uninhabitable because it was completely covered by ice sheets. However, the climate warmed during the Late Glacial Interstadial period (Bølling Oscillation-Allerød oscillation periods, c.12670 -10890 BC), giving the opportunity for humans to recolonise Britain. In Britain this period is called the "Windermere interstadial" because continuous deposits around the (Lake) Windermere region show the changing environment at this time from an alpine, herbaceous, covering to one which included woody plants such as tree birch and juniper.Pettitt and White (2012), p.428-429
Human reoccupation of Britain (in the south) started around 12700 BC (14700 cal BP),"cal" refers to calibrated years, a method by which radiocarbon dating is cross-checked with other types of dating evidence, such as tree-rings, to produce what is hoped to be a more accurate estimate of calendar years; "BP" means Before Present, whereby the "present" is taken to mean 1950AD at the start of the Late Upper Palaeolithic Period.Pettitt and White (2012), p.435 Although there is evidence of human occupation in England (during the so-called Creswellian culture, c.12670 - 12090 BC), there is no evidence that this reached Cumbria. Finds are mostly from caves in the southwest and midland regions of England, and indicate humans feeding on wild horse, reindeer, Arctic hare and red deer, as well as on wild fruits, berries, etc., evidence for which has not survived. Hunter-gathering was the mode of survival.
The first evidence found for human occupation in Cumbria is that at Kirkhead Cave, in Lower Allithwaite, during the Federmesser culture period (c.11400 - 10800 BC).Pettitt and White (2012), p.480-81 Discussing the Kirkhead Cave finds, Barrowclough quotes an earlier source who says: "Although limited, the Late Upper Paleolithic material from Cumbria is the earliest evidence of settlement in Britain this far north-west and as such is of national importance (Wymer 1981, 77)" Barrowclough (2010), p. 59–60Wymer (1981), p.77 (Perhaps this should now read "settlement in England", rather than Britain, as a cave site in Scotland has since been found).Barton (2009), p.43 Talking of the archaeological finds, he also says: "Lithic material from Kirkhead Cave near Grange...has been dated to... c.11000-9500 BC"Barrowclough, (2010), p.61 (See: Lithic flake). Other lithic blades were found at Lindale Low Cave at the mouth of the River Kent, in caves at Blenkett Wood, Allithwaite, and at Bart's Shelter, Furness (including reindeer and elk bones).Barrowclough (2010), p.61
The landscape during the Federmesser site occupations had developed into " a woodland landscape of birch and willow and a mosaic of herbaceous shrub and open grassland species." Red deer, elk, reindeer and large wild bovids were hunted, with fewer wild horse and the disappearance of mammoth marking some change in diet.Barton (2009), p.38 It is possible that seal and dolphin as well as fish were eaten in coastal sites.
During the following Younger Dryas stadial (colder period), c.10890 - 9650 BC, Federmesser sites were abandoned, and Cumbria (along with the rest of Britain) was not permanently occupied until the end of the Younger Dryas period, 11,600 years ago (that is, during the Mesolithic era).
Mesolithic, c. 9600–4000 BC
The Mesolithic era in Cumbria saw a warming of the climate: it appears to have been below 0 °C on average in c. 8000 BC, but had risen to modern temperatures by 6000 BC. This warming was accompanied by increased rainfall and rising sea-levels: the land bridge to continental Europe had disappeared by around 5300 BC.Higham (1986), p. 17. Despite what must have been substantial loss of coastal land, the overall climatic conditions favoured the movement of humans into the region. The landscape of Cumbria became covered by deciduous woodland, and hazel, birch and pine were predominant. From around 5000 BC, alder became widespread, due to the increased rainfall, with oak and elm decreasing. Red deer, roe deer, elk, auroch, as well as the smaller mammals, cattle, and fish were available as food for humans.
It is thought that settlers made their way across Morecambe Bay and along the fertile coast. At that time the upland central region of the county was heavily forested, so humans probably kept to the coastal areas, and around estuaries in particular: "sheltered locations around estuaries, lagoons or marine inlets"Bonsall (1981), pp. 451–452, quoted by Barrowclough, p. 64. "The reason is probably due to the variety and abundance of food resources combined with fresh water and shelter that make estuaries more favoured locations than purely coastal sites".Barrowclough (2010), p. 64.
Evidence for the Early Mesolithic period in Cumbria is largely confined to finds in caves. In the 1990s, human bones were found in Kents Bank Cavern (in the north Morecambe Bay area) which were in 2013 dated to the early Mesolithic, making the find "the most northerly early Mesolithic human remains in the British Isles". Horse and elk remains, from an earlier date, were also found.Smith (2013). For the Late Mesolithic, evidence comes from pits at Monk Moors and burning of heathland in the Eden Valley floodplain.Barrowclough (2010), p. 222.
In the north Cumbrian plain, around the Carlisle area and into southern Scotland, evidence has been found for woodland clearance and deliberate fire-setting as a method of managing the landscape during the Mesolithic period.Barrowclough (2010), p. 62.
Large Mesolithic flint-chipping sites, where flints washed up from the Irish Sea were worked into tools, have been found at Eskmeals, near Ravenglass on the west coast, and at Walney in the south. At Williamson's Moss in the Eskmeals area, Bonsall discovered 34,000 pieces of worked flint (pebble flint), chert and tuff, plus wooden raft-like structures that suggest permanent or semi-permanent settlement by the wandering hunter-gatherer population. Over 30,000 artefacts were discovered at Monk Moors, also part of the Eskmeals raised shoreline area.Bonsall, 1981, quoted by Barrowclough, p. 64. These sites were probably used across several thousands of years, not just during the Mesolithic.Barrowclough (2010), p. 68.
In the west Cumbrian plain, the evidence comes mainly from raised beaches of former coastlines (formed in the 6th millennium), and in south Cumbria evidence of charcoal burning and small-scale clearing has been found. There is some evidence also of continuing occupation of the caves around Morecambe Bay and in the Levens Park area.Barrowclough (2010), pp. 70-71.
With the disappearance of the elk as the climate changed, Mesolithic Cumbrians would rely on eating wild fowl, small mammals and fish (salmon and trout), with upland areas providing red deer, aurochs and wild pig. There is evidence of widespread trade in items such as flint. An increase in evidence of disturbed ground, wood-clearing and cereal pollen in Cumbria during the 5th millennium BC indicates the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period.Barrowclough (2010), pp. 72-74. "The evidence suggests that small-scale agriculture may have gradually become part of the Mesolithic repertoire, in addition to the established lifestyle of gathering, hunting and fishing".Barrowclough (2010), p. 74.
The earliest evidence of such cultivation comes from the coasts and the Eden Valley and dates to c. 4000 BC, but the population seems to have been moving around the landscape, particularly up and down the valleys, with fresh water and also the meeting points of valleys (as at Gleaston and Breastmill Beck in Furness) being the main factors for occupation.Evans (2008), pp. viii, 242, quoted by Barrowclough, 2010, p. 223.
Neolithic, c. 4500–2500 BC
There is much more visible evidence of Neolithic activity than of any earlier period. This consists mostly of finds of axes and the presence of monuments (stone circles, cairns, standing stones, and rock art). However, “there are few settlement traces represented either by physical structures or surface flintwork"..."pottery finds are...very poorly represented in Cumbria".Barrowclough (2010), pp. 75, 79. This was a time of technological advances and population expansion. The change from Mesolithic to Neolithic in Cumbria was gradual and continual. The change "is marked by the appearance of ...leaf-shaped arrowheads, scrapers and polished stone axes together with pottery and ceremonial and funerary monuments".Barrowclough (2010), p. 75.
At some time, the Mesolithic coastal communities must have moved further inland, probably following rivers along valley corridors into the heart of Lakeland. But we do not know how many moved. "The small amount of early Neolithic flintwork from the coastal plain has been taken to suggest a move away from the coast inland where the monuments of the Neolithic tend to be located. An alternative view suggests that the same level of coastal settlement and exploitation that had been common in the Mesolithic continued into the Neolithic, but that in the later period there was also an expansion of activity into other parts of the landscape"Barrowclough (2010), p. 104.
Barrowclough, referring to the excavation by Bewley in 1993, says: "Our best evidence for permanent settlement, however, comes from the site of Plasketlands, near Mawbray on the Solway Plain...".Bewley (1993), pp. 1–18, quoted by Barrowclough, p. 80. Here, a ditched enclosure with large post-holes in an 'annexe' was excavated and has an Early Neolithic dating of c. 4000 - 3300 BC. These enclosures are associated with the building of long cairns, as at Skelmore Heads and Howe Robin, and with stone axes, as at Carrock Fell.Barrowclough (2010), p. 224 Barrowclough goes on to say, however, that Plasketlands is exceptional, and that evidence for Neolithic settlement more often relies on the distribution of found polished stone axes.Barrowclough (2010), pp. 80-82.
Later on, monuments would become more 'institutionalised' and develop into stone circles and henges, reflecting a more localised and settled focus to occupation, as opposed to marking meeting points for trade and exchange as had been the case earlier.Evans (2008), ch. 7