Blick Mead is a chalkland spring in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England, separated by the River Avon from the northwest edge of the town of

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settl ...

. It is close to an Iron Age

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

known as Vespasian's Camp and about a mile east of the

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

ancient monument. Evidence from archaeological excavations at the site since 2005 indicates that there was continuous human habitation from 10,000 BP (8,000 BCE) to 6,000 BP (4,000 BCE). 70,000 worked flints and 2400 animal bones, some cooked, mostly from

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

, have been found at the site. There is also the remains of a pit dwelling formed from a tree throw. A few finds have been used to radiocarbon date the time of settlement. It is thought that the site would have been an attractive place to camp or dwell, with a spring that never freezes over; the issuing water has a constant temperature of around . Oxygen isotope analysis of a single canine

premolar The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

found at Blick Mead has been interpreted as evidence that people had travelled a long way to get there and that this was associated with its proximity to Stonehenge. However, this is inconclusive as, while the isotope values are not consistent with the dog originating at the site, it represents the only example of a dietary isotope profile for a tooth from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

, from any species. A rare algae called ''

Hildenbrandia ''Hildenbrandia'' is a genus of thalloid red algae, red alga comprising about 26 species. The slow-growing, non-mineralized thalli take a crustose form. ''Hildenbrandia'' reproduces by means of conceptacles and produces tetraspores. Morphology ...

'' lives in the spring and causes stones taken from it to turn bright red on exposure to air in a matter of hours. In Mesolithic times this could have given the place a magical significance. Its closeness to

has led to theories that it is the attraction that first brought hunters to the area, with the colour-changing stones giving the place a spiritual significance. In 2019 it was the subject of episode 4 of season 1 of ''Lost Cities with Albert Lin''.

References

Further reading