Editing Isle of Wight (section)

===Stone Age ===
During [[Pleistocene]] [[glacial period]]s sea levels were lower than at present, and the area that today forms the Solent was part of the valley of the now extinct [[River Solent|Solent River]]. The river flowed eastward from Dorset, following the course of the modern Solent strait. The river travelled east of the Isle of Wight before flowing southwest towards the major Channel River system. At these times, extensive gravel terraces associated with the Solent River and the forerunners of the island's modern rivers were deposited. During warmer interglacial periods, silts, beach gravels, clays, and muds of marine and estuarine origin were deposited due to higher sea levels, suggesting similar marine or estuary conditions to those experienced today. 

[[File:Upper Palaeolithic Flint Handaxe (FindID 402440).jpg|thumb|right|A flint [[hand axe]] from the [[Paleolithic]], {{circa|500,000}} [[Before Present|BP]], found on the island in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/402440 |title= Finds record for: IOW-11AE37 |author= Basford, F |access-date= 29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
The earliest clear evidence of [[Lower Paleolithic|Lower Palaeolithic]] archaic human occupation on what is now the Isle of Wight is found close to [[Priory Bay]]. More than 300 [[Acheulean|acheulean handaxes]] have been recovered from the beach and cliff slopes, originating from a sequence of Pleistocene gravels dating approximately to [[Marine Isotope Stage 11|MIS 11]]-[[Marine Isotope Stage 9|MIS 9]] (424,000–374,000 years ago).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wenban-Smith |first=Francis |date=January 2009 |title=The Pleistocene sequence at Priory Bay, Isle of Wight (SZ 635 900) |url=https://www.academia.edu/1794967 |journal=Field Meeting of the Quaternary Research Association |language=en}}</ref> Reworked and abraded artefacts found at the site may be considerably older however, closer to 500,000 years old. The identity of the hominids who produced these tools is unknown. However, sites and fossils of the same age range in Europe are often attributed to ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' or early populations of [[Neanderthal]]s.

A [[Middle Paleolithic|Middle Palaeolithic]] [[Mousterian]] flint assemblage, consisting of 50 handaxes and debitage, has been recovered from Great Pan Farm in the Medina Valley near Newport. Gravel sequences at the site have been dated to the [[MIS 3|MIS 3 interstadial]] during the [[Last Glacial Period|last glacial period]] ({{circa|50,000 years}} ago). These tools are associated with the late Neanderthal occupation, and evidence of late Neanderthal presence is seen across Britain at this time.

No significant evidence of [[Upper Paleolithic|Upper Palaeolithic]] activity exists on the Isle of Wight. This period is associated with the expansion and establishment of populations of [[Human|modern human]] (''Homo sapiens'') [[hunter-gatherer]]s in Europe, beginning around 45,000 years ago. However, evidence of late Upper Palaeolithic activity has been found at nearby sites on the mainland, notably [[Hengistbury Head]] in Dorset, dating to just before the onset of the [[Holocene]] and the end of the last glacial period {{circa|11,700 years}} ago. [[File:Neolithic Arrowhead (hollow based) (FindID 453951).jpg|thumb|right|A [[Neolithic]] arrowhead from {{circa|2500|2100}} [[Common Era|BCE]], found on the island in 2011<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/453951 |title= Finds record for: IOW-EF8E93 |author= Basford, F |access-date= 29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
Evidence of [[Mesolithic]] hunter-gatherer occupation on the island is generally found along the river valleys, particularly along the Solent coastline of the island and in the former catchment of the western Yar. Other key terrestrial sites are found at Newtown Creek, Werrar, and Wootton-Quarr.

A submerged escarpment {{convert|11|metres|abbr=off}} below sea level off [[Bouldnor Cliff]] on the island's Solent coastline has yielded an internationally significant mesolithic archaeological site. The Bouldnor Cliff site exhibits evidence of seasonal occupation by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers dating to {{circa|6050 BC}}. Finds include flint tools, burnt flint, worked timbers, wooden platforms, and pits. The worked wood shows evidence of splitting large planks from oak trunks, interpreted as being intended for use as dug-out canoes. DNA analysis of sediments at the site yielded [[wheat]] DNA, not found in Britain until 2,000 years after the occupation at Bouldnor Cliff. It has been suggested this is evidence of wide-reaching trade in Mesolithic Europe; however, the contemporaneity of the wheat with the Mesolithic occupation has been contested. Owing to lower sea levels during the Mesolithic the hunter-gatherer site was located on a river bank surrounded by wetlands and woodland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/8000-year-old-boat-building-platform-found-coast-britain-180972989/|title=An 8,000-Year-Old Platform in Britain Could Be the Oldest Boat-Building Site Ever Discovered|first=Jason|last=Daley|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref> As sea levels rose throughout the early Holocene the Solent flooded, submerging the site.

From {{circa|6,000 years}} ago migrations of farming populations to Britain from northwest Europe brought the onset of the [[Neolithic]], largely replacing and assimilating previous mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations. On the Isle of Wight Neolithic occupation is attested to by flint tool finds, pottery and monuments. The Isle of Wight's neolithic communities were agriculturalists, farming livestock and crops. The Isle of Wight's most recognisable neolithic site is the Longstone at [[Mottistone]], the remains of an early Neolithic [[long barrow]]. Initially constructed with two standing stones at the entrance, only one remains upright today. The site would have likely served as a communal tomb and ritual site for nearby farming communities. A Neolithic mortuary enclosure has also been identified on [[Tennyson Down]] near [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]].