Radiocarbon dating of hazelnut shells found during excavations at Tregunnel Hill has revealed some of the earliest Neolithic remains yet identified in Cornwall, England.
The findings extend the start of the Neolithic in the region by at least a century, providing a new understanding of when farming and settled lifestyles first appeared in this part of Britain, nearly 6,000 years ago.
At Tregunnel Hill, archaeological investigations revealed very rich deposits of human habitation spanning more than 10,000 years, from the Mesolithic to the post-medieval era.
Several prehistoric pits with carefully deposited materials were among the most important finds. One large pit was remarkable in the unusual layering of deposits.
These deposits included charcoal-rich ash, pieces of broken pottery vessels—such as the Carinated Bowl belonging to early Neolithic societies—flint tools, animal bone, and beach cobbles. The sequence seems to have been deliberately placed beforehand, followed by soil sealing.
Radiocarbon dates of charred hazelnut shells from this pit produced dates ranging from 3985 BC to 3793 BC, putting the activity firmly in the Early Neolithic and among the earliest confirmed evidence for this period in Cornwall.
Similar results in a smaller pit nearby bore some similarity to this. It had charcoal-rich deposits and charred plant remains, including hazelnut shell, alder, hawthorn, crab apple, and cherry. Hazelnut shells from this feature dated to 3950 BC to 3760 BC. The scorching evidence inside the pit suggests it may have been used as a fire pit.
The era of the Neolithic represents one of the biggest changes in human history, where societies passed from a mobile, hunter-gatherer world to a settled farming society.
New technologies (such as pottery) as well as domesticated crops and animals were introduced to the land. While we don’t have readily identifiable structural remains from Early Neolithic buildings at Tregunnel Hill (which is the usual situation at the time), the pits themselves provide strong evidence of activity. Their carefully placed deposits may reflect ritual practices; food remains and pottery may indicate domestic life there.
Together, these findings are helping archaeologists refine the timeline of when farming, pottery, and settled communities first reached Cornwall and the wider South West of Britain.
Sources : Cotswold Archaeology
