Place Object Found: Deepcar

Department: Archaeology

These four burins were amongst the many thousands of flints found at a Meolithic hunting camp at Deepcar.

Burins were an important part of the Mesolithic tool kit. They occur in different shapes and sizes. However, all have a small, sharp, chisel like edge. They were used for engraving bone and wood. They were particularly used for cutting slots into wooden shafts into which small flint blades called microliths were fitted. Arrows made of microliths fitted to shafts were used in hunting.

Most of the finds from Deepcar were pieces of flint. Flint was not the only material available to Mesolithic people. However, it is usually the only one that survives well. Bone tools also survive on some sites. Mesolithic people also used wood and leather. Tools like burins were used for working wood. These organic materials probably played a large role in everyday life.