The oldest human remains ever discovered in Northern Britain have now been identified as those of a young girl who lived around 11,000 years ago.
The remains were uncovered inside Heaning Wood Bone Cave near Great Urswick in Cumbria during excavations led by local archaeologist Martin Stables. The discovery provided some of the clearest evidence yet of Mesolithic burials in northern Britain.
Three years after the bones were found, an international team led by researchers from the University of Lancashire successfully extracted DNA from the remains. Their analysis showed the child was female and likely between 2.5 and 3.5 years old when she died.
"It is the first time we have been able to be so specific about the age of a child whose remains are so old and be certain that they are from a female," said lead researcher Dr. Rick Peterson.
One of Europe's Earliest Mesolithic Burials
Researchers say the burial is now considered the third oldest known Mesolithic burial in northwestern Europe. The remains also represent some of the earliest evidence of human activity in Britain after the last Ice Age ended.
Additional discoveries at the cave have strengthened the idea that the site was used intentionally for burial rituals. Archaeologists recently uncovered jewelry that included a pierced deer tooth and beads, all carbon dated to around 11,000 years ago.
"Dating the jewelry to the same time frame as the remains provides more evidence that this was a deliberate burial and opens up conversations about the significance of cave burials during this period," added Rick.
"Modern hunter-gatherer groups often see caves as a gateway into the spirit world, and this may be why we see so many caves used for burial by Early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in northern Europe."
The Story Behind the "Ossick Lass"
Because Stables is from Great Urswick himself, he wanted the child's identity to remain connected to the village where she was buried for thousands of years. He chose the name "Ossick Lass," using local dialect meaning "Urswick girl."
Stables is entirely self-taught as an archaeologist and began excavating the site out of a personal fascination with the village's prehistoric past.
He said: "It's nearly 10 years since I started the excavations in July 2016 and I couldn't have envisaged the journey I have undertaken. It's as if I've went back in time to 9,000 BC.
"In doing so I traveled through the Bronze and Neolithic Ages, discovering some of those that lived then and what they left behind. Ultimately, reaching the Mesolithic Period has obviously become the highlight of the excavation and something that's particularly poignant to myself. Effectively, I was the first to bear witness to the obviously caring burial of someone's child that occurred over 11,000 years ago.
"The publication of this research paper is an important stage, that in due course, allows us to reveal further information about this unique site of national importance. My journey continues, but in the present as this is just the beginning and there is much more we plan to tell."
Rare Discovery in Northern Britain
Ancient human remains are far more commonly found in southern England and Wales. In northern Britain, evidence from this era is extremely rare because glaciers from the Ice Age heavily altered the landscape and destroyed many archaeological traces.
Before this discovery, the earliest known human remains in northern Britain came from a 10,000-year-old burial uncovered in nearby Kent's Bank Cavern in 2013.
Researchers also determined that at least eight individuals were buried in the Heaning Wood Bone Cave over several different prehistoric periods. Evidence suggests all of the burials were intentional.
The burials date to three separate time periods: around 4,000 years ago during the Early Bronze Age, about 5,500 years ago in the Early Neolithic period, and approximately 11,000 years ago during the earliest part of the Mesolithic era.
The research detailing the discovery and DNA findings was published in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Journal.
