Personal belongings of ancient people were found on the tiny island. They were dug up by rabbits

Not far from the UK there is the small island of Skholm, on which only two people live. They are bird watchers Richard Brown and Giselle Eagle(Giselle Eagle) that watch out for local birds. Also, a colony of rabbits lives on the tiny territory, which regularly dig deep holes for themselves. Recently, conservationists found strange objects near these holes and sent their photographs to their acquaintances archaeologists. It turned out that the rabbits unearthed two items that were personal belongings of people from the Stone Age. The first item was used in the manufacture of boats and butchering animals, and the second was used as a vessel for storing the ashes of dead people. This is a great discovery for archaeologists, because the discovery of such objects suggests that once upon a time more people lived on the island of Skholm. Let's talk about all this in more detail.

Skoholm Island

Bird watchers - scientists who study birds.In addition to studying, they are engaged in the protection of endangered species. The island of Skholm is home to many seabirds, which are important to control and monitor their population.

Skoholm Island in the Celtic Sea

Skoholm Island is located about 3kilometers from Wales - a country that is part of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This 1.6 by 0.8 kilometer piece of land is part of the Pembrokeshire County National Park. In addition to birds, the island is also home to many rabbits. If you go deeper into history, they are the descendants of rabbits that were bred in the Middle Ages. Unlike hares, rabbits dig very deep, complex burrows and spend most of their lives in them.

Rabbit hole on Skoholm Island

What kinds of rabbit holes are there?

Rabbit holes are divided into two types:family and brood. Adults live inside the family minks and they have several entrances and exits. Brood burrows are burrowed by females and are located not far from family ones. The offspring are reared inside them and they usually have only one entrance and exit. As soon as the rabbits get out, brood burrows are buried. The most difficult rabbit holes are up to 3 meters deep. Apparently, at about this depth, there were accidentally found artifacts of the Stone Age.

The depth of rabbit holes reaches 3 meters

Stone Age tools

According to an expert on prehistoric toolsAndrew David, the first object to be discovered is a 6,000 to 9,000 year old mown pebble. It dates back to the Mesolithic era, also known as the Middle Stone Age. In those days, people actively used stone tools, but they also made products from animal bones. For example, well-sharpened bones made excellent arrowheads. And the pebbles found were most likely used to make boats (yes, they already existed in those distant times) and for butchering captured animals.

Stone Age beveled pebbles

Archaeologist Jody took up the second subject.Deacon (Jody Deacon). According to him, the rabbits managed to unearth a shard of a very thick clay pot. It is believed that such a vessel, 3750 years old, could have been used as an urn for cremation. On the territory of Wales, this kind of burial vessels were found quite often, so the find of scientists was not particularly surprising. However, this is another confirmation that once upon a time the island of Skholm was inhabited by people. And they lived there for at least 1000 years.

Fragment of a clay pot

Obviously, Skoholm Island was inhabited onfor millennia. Until now, we have not seen anything similar even on the larger islands of Skomer or Ramsey, ”said Toby Driver, an archaeologist at the Royal Commission for Wales.

The fact that ancient objects were accidentally foundrabbits, there is no particular doubt. When conservationists took the fragments of an earthen vessel, after a while, other fragments appeared at the rabbit hole. That is, artifacts are discovered as animals dig their homes. Richard Brown and Giselle Eagle are unlikely to excavate - after all, this is not their business. When the restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic are lifted, real archaeologists will get to the island of Skholm and conduct excavations. Perhaps they will find even more ancient items.

Links to interesting articles, funny memes and a lot of other interesting information can be found on our telegram channel. Subscribe!

Stone Age objects are found inmost different parts of our planet. On the territory of Israel there is a cave of Nahal Hemar and stone masks for rituals were recently found inside it. You can read about them and see photos in this material.