Mesolithic hunters: setting the scenes
This project was based around the evidence from a
number of sites in
It was decided to
create two images: one would show a small group in a hunting scene, and the
other would show the short-stay camp.
The important thing
for me is to make these images look as realistic as possible. I try to make
these pictures look a little contemporary, to avoid quasi-historical clichés; I
don’t like things
to look ‘olde-worlde’, because this distances people
from the subject matter and introduces an artificial quaintness to the images.
The people in these images were just like us, and their lives did not feel
old-fashioned, but for them were in the Present and ‘Modern’, with all the
dirt, problems, emotions and beauty that we experience.
The first task was to get the
environment right. Research shows that much of the south-east of 
Mesolithic was covered with lime wildwood.
The latest theories suggest that this woodland was more
patchy than we once thought, due to the actions of grazing animals. One
picture therefore would show a dark and forbidding ancient forest, while the
other would show mixed young trees and grass. The thick woodland had to look
old and mysterious, with rotten fallen trees and new saplings, and very little
light penetrating to the forest floor. This would be a mysterious and sometimes
dangerous place for humans; they would be highly skilled at navigating and
understanding the wildwood, with a profound knowledge of the plants and animals
(both their ways and uses); at the same time the wildwood was largely
unexplored, and populated with animals such as wolves, aurochs and wild boars -
all enemies of Man.
It was important to make the hunters look convincing. These people
would have been highly skilled in tracking, navigation, hunting, shooting,
making clothing, tools and weapons, butchery, and pretty much any other
wilderness activities. They will have had a detailed knowledge of the stars,
the terrain, the world around them, the weather; they would be able to track an
animal for miles, moving towards their quarry without a sound. They knew the
ways of their prey intimately; no doubt they had a reverence for the animals
they hunted, which may have had a spiritual meaning for them They knew how to
make all manner of objects using the materials available- skin, bone, wood,
antler, sinew, flint (the flintwork they left is
incredibly intricate). Physically, they would be lean and 
athletic, moving with grace and speed. One
might compare them to the aboriginals of
I wanted the figures in the reconstructions to be shown in dynamic
poses, on tiptoes, brushing the ground with fingertips, as if every muscle was
taut, and their bodies made of springs. One might imagine that such people
could run fast, climb trees with ease and jump with balletic
grace. Physically, they would have been like gymnasts or ‘Free-Runners’; spiritually
they were wild and free, and at one with their world.
The clothing had to suit the lifestyle these people would have led.
They had no textiles, so their garments would have been made from skins, cured
by drying and brain-tanning; their clothes would surely be well-made and ideal
for an active lifestyle; warm and waterproof when necessary, but allowing
complete mobility. They would also surely have been variations in dress, no
doubt depending on personality, so all four figures are shown with different
clothing. Although the climate was warmer than today, there will have been
different types of clothes for different seasons; here I have shown summer
gear, so they are all lightly-covered. 
I have tried not to make the clothes look
too old-fashioned; the impression I wanted to give was of a seasoned 
Their attitudes towards the human body
would probably be different to ours, so they may have worn a less clothing,
although the climate might have prevented them from baring
too much. Certainly they would be hardy people, with less need for insulation.
I thought carefully about the shoes they would have worn; while they
may have gone barefoot, the Indians wore moccasins, so I took a similar
approach. There is no reason to suspect that their footwear was crudely-made,
but I have chosen to give them simple one-piece moccasins, laced up, without lining.
As a final touch, the clothing is decorated with stitching and
beadwork, because I felt that some form of decoration would be appropriate;
they surely must have taken pride and care in their attire.
The faces of the hunters
was something else that had to look right. DNA research has shown that
the oldest static population in Europe is that of Western Ireland, where dark
hair predominates. Along with the typically dark-haired, swarthy faces of
The equipment carried by our hunters is based on archaeological remains
from many sites. The most famous English site is Star Carr in 
It was clear that each hunter would be equipped with certain
essentials: a knife (carried in a pouch slung from a belt), a bow and a quiver.
The bows are based on the examples form Holmegaard in
The arrows would come in several types, for different prey; light blunt
arrows for birds, light, medium and heavy arrows for different sizes of game,
long multi-barbed arrows for fish. The quiver would have to be waterproof, and
may have been made with a furry pelt rather than skin.
Each hunter would also probably have a small rucksack, which would
contain: a fire kit (flints, tinder, dried moss, etc); needles and sinew thread
for mending clothes; a flint-knapping kit with some raw flint; maybe a basic
first aid kit (with perhaps some pain-killing herbs and honey as antiseptic);
raw materials for mending and making gear (resin, sinew); some ready made flint
tools; and a small tranchet adze, which would be used
for setting a shelter. This gear would all be lightweight and compact. Some of
these things can be seen in the camp picture- note the adze leaning against the
entrance to the shelter.
The shelter itself would have to be quick to build, from the available
materials. While the larger camp would probably consist of skin tents, it would
be unlikely that a hunting party would want to take heavy skins with them, and
so they probably made do with what they could find; this shelter is built of
dead wood and leaves, and is based on a structure described by Ray Mears.
The animals that were hunted by these people were another element with
which I had to be careful; many of the wild species in the
Lastly, after all the research, I had to
compose the actual scenes themselves; this is a matter of producing a balanced
picture with just the right amount of visual drama. In the hunting scene, I
wanted to give the impression of the
dark forest all around us, and in the shadowy foreground, the hunters-
themselves dangerous and menacing; the light falls on the stag in the
middle-ground, and here is the focus of the image. The overall atmosphere
should be mysterious and claustrophobic. We cannot see the hunters’ faces; they
are impersonal, themselves like animals, because here they are the predators.
The camp scene, on the other hand, is bright and airy; the hunters are
talking, and the viewer sees them at close range, as if we are among the group
by the fire. Now we see the details of their clothing, and their gear. At the
same time, we are only on the edge of the wildwood; the trees here are small,
and we can see the blue sky. If the first image is mysterious, then this one
explains; it is like a ‘behind-the-scenes’ picture.
