Culverwell Mesolithic Site

Culverwell Mesolithic Site lies on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, beside the Portland Bill Road. It sits in unspoiled countryside untouched by quarrying, maintained by the Association for Portland Archaeology. The site includes visible remains of a Mesolithic settlement dating from 7,500 to 8,500 years ago. A large floor of limestone slabs covers part of an ancient shell midden, the earliest known use of Portland limestone in England. Other features include low walls, four hearths, a cooking pit, and a ritual stone arrangement. The site is important because it shows how Mesolithic people lived on Portland. Excavations found stone tools such as microliths, scrapers, knives, and pounders, along with pierced shell beads. Archaeologists believe around twenty people lived here for twenty to twenty-five years in four or five huts. They gathered shellfish and plants and occasionally hunted, using chert from nearby cliffs and water from Culver Well. Visitors can walk among the exposed limestone floor and see the shell midden and hearths. The surrounding fields still show the ancient strip system once common across the island. Guided tours explain how the site was used and how Mesolithic people survived. The site won the Pitt Rivers Award in 2004 for its archaeological work.