Stone Age places in Britain
Where the evidence comes from, oldest first. If you plan a visit, check opening details with each site first: they can change.
Jump to: Happisburgh | Boxgrove | Swanscombe | Kent’s Cavern | Star Carr | Cheddar Gorge | Grime’s Graves | Skara Brae | Stonehenge
Happisburgh and Pakefield (Norfolk and Suffolk)
Stone tools from Happisburgh in Norfolk and Pakefield in Suffolk show people were here between 950,000 and 700,000 years ago. Natural History Museum: First Britons A trail of footprints, left by a small group walking across estuary mudflats, was found at Happisburgh. Natural History Museum: First Britons
No bones of those first visitors have been found; from the dates, they could have been Homo antecessor. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Boxgrove (West Sussex)
The first human fossils found in Britain are a leg bone and two teeth from Boxgrove in West Sussex, about 500,000 years old. Natural History Museum: First Britons The Boxgrove people butchered horse, deer and rhinoceros, which suggests they planned and hunted as a group. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Swanscombe (Kent)
A skull from Swanscombe in Kent shows early Neanderthals were in Britain about 400,000 years ago. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Those cold grasslands supported woolly mammoth, woolly rhino and reindeer. Natural History Museum: First Britons Winter temperatures there averaged about −10°C. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Kent’s Cavern (Devon)
The earliest direct evidence of our own species in Britain is a jaw fragment from Kent’s Cavern in Devon, at least 40,000 years old. Natural History Museum: First Britons Early modern humans made tools of bone and ivory as well as stone, and carved, painted and sculpted. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Star Carr (North Yorkshire)
Star Carr in North Yorkshire was a Mesolithic settlement about 1,000 years older than Cheddar Man. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy In 2010 the Star Carr team said they had found Britain’s earliest surviving house, dating to at least 8,500 BC. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010) · checked 29 Oct 2026
The house was a circular structure about 3.5 metres across, beside an ancient lake near Scarborough. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010) It had post holes round a central hollow, probably filled with reeds or similar, and possibly a fireplace. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010)
The Star Carr house is at least 500 years older than the previous record holder, at Howick in Northumberland. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010) A platform of split and hewn timbers at Star Carr is the earliest evidence of carpentry in Europe. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010)
They hunted deer, wild boar, elk and aurochs. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010) The Star Carr hunter-gatherers didn’t farm, but they kept domesticated dogs. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010)
Archaeologists at Star Carr found red deer skull-caps that may have been worn as headdresses. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy An engraved shale pendant from Star Carr is known as the oldest Mesolithic art in Britain. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
The peat preserved a boat paddle, arrow tips and red deer skull tops worn as masks. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010)
Cheddar Gorge (Somerset)
His Mesolithic skeleton was found in 1903 in Gough’s Cave, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy Cheddar Man is the oldest almost complete skeleton of our species found in Britain. He lived about 10,000 years ago. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
Ancient DNA suggests Cheddar Man had dark skin and blue eyes. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy He was about 166cm tall and died in his twenties. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
When he was found, some claimed he was 40,000 to 80,000 years old; radiocarbon dating from the 1970s onwards put him at about 10,000 years. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
Nearby Aveline’s Hole is one of Britain’s biggest Mesolithic cemeteries, with about 50 people. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy People in Britain today share about 10% of their genetic ancestry with Cheddar Man’s population, but aren’t his direct descendants. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
Cheddar Man’s skeleton and a reconstruction of his face are on display in the Natural History Museum’s Human Evolution gallery. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy · checked 29 Oct 2026
Grime’s Graves (Norfolk)
Grime’s Graves in Norfolk is the largest known prehistoric flint mine. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves Grime’s Graves is the only prehistoric flint mine open to the public. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves · checked 29 Oct 2026
People began mining the dark flint at Grime’s Graves around 2600 BC. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves The bumps and hollows at Grime’s Graves mark 433 mines and pits. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves
The name Grime’s Graves comes from the Anglo-Saxons, who thought the pits were the work of the god Grim. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves In 1868–70 Canon William Greenwell dug a deep shaft and proved Grime’s Graves was a Neolithic flint mine, the first recognised in Britain. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves
Skara Brae (Orkney)
Skara Brae in Orkney is a Neolithic village so well preserved that even the stone furniture survives. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history Nowhere else in Western Europe shows so richly how people lived then. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Since 1999 Skara Brae has been part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history It was first an inland village beside a freshwater loch. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Its houses were built of flat stone slabs, set into mounds of midden and joined by covered passages. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history Each house has one room of about 40 square metres. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Each room has a stone “dresser”, two box-beds, a central hearth and small tanks set into the floor. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history One larger building has a special hearth and no beds, so it may have been a workshop. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Finds include gaming dice, tools, pottery, jewellery and carved stone objects. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history The villagers were farmers, hunters and fishers. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
No weapons have been found, which suggests a peaceful life. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history No one knows why village life ended around 2500 BC: some say a huge sandstorm, others a slower change. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Stonehenge (Wiltshire)
Stonehenge was built in stages: the first monument, a henge, about 5,000 years ago, and the stone circle about 2500 BC, in the late Neolithic. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge The earliest big event was a circular ditch and bank, about 100 metres across, dug about 3000 BC. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
English Heritage says pine posts were put up near where Stonehenge now stands in the Mesolithic, between 8500 and 7000 BC. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge The Stonehenge Cursus, a rectangular earthwork 1.7 miles long, is part of a group of monuments from around 3500 BC. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
Just inside the bank are 56 pits called the Aubrey Holes; experts still debate what stood in them. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge About 64 cremations have been found there, making Stonehenge the largest late Neolithic cemetery in the British Isles. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
Two kinds of stone were used: big sarsens and smaller “bluestones”. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge The sarsens stood as an inner horseshoe and an outer circle, with bluestones between. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
The stones went up at a time of change, as Beaker pottery and metalworking arrived from the Continent. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge Four sarsens carry hundreds of carvings of axe-heads, probably bronze axes from about 1750–1500 BC. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
Mining at Grime’s Graves began around the time many of the Stonehenge stones were first raised. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves With Avebury, Stonehenge is at the heart of a World Heritage Site. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
A story from 1136 said the wizard Merlin built Stonehenge; people widely believed it until the 16th century. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge Cecil Chubb gave Stonehenge to the nation in 1918. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge
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