INVESTIGATION OF MESOLITHIC TRACKWAYS AT GOLDCLIFF, SEVERN ESTUARY, UK, USING IN SITU BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA

Benthic foraminifera assemblages are a formidable tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and Mesolithic societies frequently lived near water bodies and interacted with sediments that foraminifera inhabit. However, environmental archaeology studies have not implemented modern micropaleontological guidelines outside of palynological applications. The Severn Estuary, Wales, UK contains a network of well-documented Mesolithic (=late Pleistocene) archaeological sites that provide an ideal test case for the utility of foraminifera to interpret human-environment interactions. This study tested whether analysis of in situ foraminifera provided adequate paleoenvironmental context for human and bird trackways and a fish trap, without further sources of data. It also represents the first in-depth benthic foraminifera investigation at Goldcliff. Given that the Severn Estuary has an exceptionally high tidal range (~ 50 ft/15 m), methods developed in similar conditions in the Canadian Maritimes were utilised to characterise tidal zones in this study. Sediments directly associated (underprints and overprints) with trackways/artefacts were collected at three archaeological sites that are presently located in the upper saltmarsh intertidal zone. A total of 309 individual specimens were identified. 27 benthic taxa were present: 15 Rotaliata, 6 Nodosariata, and 5 Miliolata species. Goldcliff’s taxa range across a spectrum of deep sea—tidal marsh environments. Typical and expected upper saltmarsh species were rare or not present, whereas inwashed marine taxa were common and abundant. Therefore, the analysis of benthic foraminifera independently demonstrates that Mesolithic human activities at Severn Estuary occurred in the low-marsh zone. This also validates that reliable paleoenvironmental data can be collected in situ despite the possibility of overprinted taxa from the modern environment.