Lismore Fields is the site of a

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

settlement in the town of

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. It was discovered close to the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

in 1984 by the Trent and Peak Archaeological Trust during a search for a Roman road. The site is a protected

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

The first inhabitants of Buxton made their home at Lismore Fields 6,000 years ago. Excavation of the prehistoric settlement discovered the remains (floors, post holes and pits) of a

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 ...

timber roundhouse and of two

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

longhouses. The layout of these buildings can be clearly seen from the positions of the post holes. Flint implements were also found. Lismore Fields could be the earliest cereal cultivation site discovered in Britain. Cereal stores were revealed by the archeologists. Pollen analysis of soil samples and charred plant remains uncovered evidence of

emmer wheat Emmer is a hybrid species of wheat, producing edible seeds that have been used as food since ancient times. The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''T. t. ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is called ''T. t.'' s ...

, crab apples,

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

s and

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

. Researchers believe that this ancient site marks the period when Stone Age people developed from

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

s to farmers. The "Lismore Pot" is a 5,500 year-old Grimston-ware bowl,{{Cite web, url=https://www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk/objects/1-26/, title=Grimstone-ware bowl, last=, first=, date=, website=www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk, archive-url=, archive-date=, access-date=2020-02-22 pieced together from pottery fragments, and is one of the oldest pots ever found in Britain. It is on display in the Buxton Museum. Lismore_Stone_Age_Pot

References

Archaeological sites in Derbyshire Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Buxton