What Hampshire and the south was like during the Stone Age

2,500,000 BC –10,000 BC   -   Old Stone Age

The Old Stone Age or Paleolithic is the earliest archaeological period that we have much information about. It includes the Ice Ages, and some of the earliest finds in the area are the remains of animals that lived here during that time. 

Their bones were dredged up when Southampton Eastern Docks were being built from the late 1830’s onwards.

Also in the 19th century, tools dating to more than 70,000 years ago were found by local antiquarians at many gravel pits and quarry sites, particularly in the Highfield area.

These include beautiful flint hand axes, some of which are on display at the Sea City and Tudor House Museums.

10,000 BC – 4,000 BC   -   Middle Stone Age

A Middle Stone Age or Mesolithic flint-working site was discovered in the 1990s in Priory

Avenue in St Denys.

Evidence of Mesolithic occupation has also been found in the intertidal zone off Weston Shore, and by erosion from the low cliff on the shoreline.

In 1987, the submerged remains of an ancient forest and cliffs were discovered off the coast in Bouldnor on the Isle of Wight.

Radiocarbon dating revealed this to be approximately 8,000 years old – when the Isle of Wight would have been connected to the mainland. 

Eventually, sea levels rose, and the site was submerged. 

In 1999 divers noticed a lobster discarding worked flints from its burrow and a village was discovered. 

Finds included flint tools, timbers, charcoal, burnt clay and pits. 

The large amounts of worked timbers suggest that the village was used for boat building and this discovery pushed the known dates of such woodworking skills back 2,000 years. 

Wheat found at the site was found to be non-native to the UK, suggesting that the inhabitants were trading with Europe.

4000 BC – 2000 BC   -   New Stone Age

The New Stone Age or Neolithic was when humans went from hunter-gatherers to farmers, and monuments such as long barrows and henges were built, including Stonehenge and Avebury. 

Neolithic pottery has been found near Hill Lane in Shirley, in Nursling Plantation, Lower Brownhill Road, and Chilworth Common.

3300 BC – 750 BC   -   Bronze Age

In the 19th Century, gravediggers at the cemetery on Southampton Common, and workmen at the site of the reservoir, sold the bronze artefacts they found to local antiquarians. 

Bronze hoards have also been discovered at Cobden Bridge.

Flowerdown in Littleton, near Winchester, consists of a trio of Bronze Age burial mounds and a Sarsen Stone. 

These are a type of hard silcrete rock found naturally scattered across southern England as a result of glaciation.

The Flowerdown “disc“ barrow is the largest in Hampshire. 

It is bounded by a wide ditch and an external bank. 

To the south-west are two “bowl” barrows. 

The Sarsen Stone was originally found nearby on Dean Down Drove.

750 BC – AD 43   -   Iron Age   

Earthworks are known in Lordswood and Aldermoor.

A possible Iron Age salt production site was excavated at the Southampton Institute and Iron Age pottery has been found in Regents Park. 

Traces of Iron Age buildings, together with artefacts, have been found during excavations at York Buildings and Maddison Street in Southampton.

Danebury is a large Iron Age hillfort just west of Stockbridge. 
The site was occupied for roughly 500 years until the Roman invasion in AD 43. 

Earthwork banks enclose a roughly-circular area about 12 acres in size.
The site of modern Winchester was the tribal capital of the Belgae. They built Iron Age hill forts at St Catherine’s Hill, Oram’s Arbour and Worthy Down.

Butser Ancient Farm, Chalton Lane, Waterlooville, showcases Ancient Britain through experimental archaeology. 

You can visit Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age reconstructed buildings, see ancient breeds of animals and try ancient skills. 

It also covers the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods – stories for another day!

Jack Wilson is a tour guide with SeeSouthampton.co.uk .

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