Editing Somerset (section)

===Prehistory===
The caves of the [[Mendip Hills]] were settled during the [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic]] period,<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction: The Paleolithic period – food gatherers |series=Aspects of Somerset history |department=Somerset Archives |publisher=Somerset Government |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Palper.htm |access-date=29 December 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814192128/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Palper.htm |archive-date=14 August 2011 }}</ref> and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at [[Cheddar Gorge]]. Bones from [[Gough's Cave]] have been dated to 12,000&nbsp;BCE, and a complete skeleton, known as [[Cheddar Man]], dates from [[8th millennium BC|7150&nbsp;BCE]].<ref>{{cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=20 June 2010 |title=Bones from a Cheddar Gorge cave show that cannibalism helped Britain's earliest settlers survive the ice age |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/20/ice-age-cannibals-britain-earliest-settlers |access-date=22 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307203921/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/20/ice-age-cannibals-britain-earliest-settlers |archive-date= 7 March 2016 }}</ref> Examples of cave art have been found in [[Aveline's Hole]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Aveline's Hole discovery |publisher=[[University of Bristol]] |department=Spelaeological Society |url=http://www.ubss.org.uk/articles/avelines.php |access-date=22 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303185905/http://www.ubss.org.uk/articles/avelines.php |archive-date= 3 March 2016 }}</ref> Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including [[Wookey Hole Caves|Wookey Hole]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The [[Somerset Levels]]—specifically [[dry point]]s at [[Glastonbury]] and [[Brent Knoll]]—also have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by [[Mesolithic]] hunters.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |year=1983 |title=A History of Somerset |publisher=Phillimore & Co |location=Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-85033-461-6 }}</ref><ref name="Mesolithic">{{cite web |title=Somerset |website=Camelot Village: Britain's Heritage and History |url=http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/counties/england/somerset.html |access-date=28 May 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613211349/http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/counties/england/somerset.html |archive-date=13 June 2006 }}</ref> Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the world's oldest known engineered roadways, the [[Sweet Track]], which dates from 3807&nbsp;BCE or 3806&nbsp;BCE.{{efn|A 6,000-year-old trackway was discovered in [[Belmarsh prison]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.physorg.com/news169297178.html |title=London's earliest timber structure found during Belmarsh prison dig |last=Anon |date=12 August 2009 |work=physorg.com News |publisher=PhysOrg.com |access-date=10 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715214221/http://www.physorg.com/news169297178.html |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The day the Sweet Track was built |work=New Scientist |date=16 June 1990 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12617212.800-science-the-day-the-sweet-track-was-built.html |access-date=13 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311232408/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12617212.800-science-the-day-the-sweet-track-was-built.html |archive-date=11 March 2010 }}</ref><ref name=brunning>{{cite journal |last=Brunning |first=Richard |date=February 2001 |title=The Somerset Levels |series=Wetlands Special Issue |journal=[[Current Archaeology]] |volume=XV (No. 4) |issue=172 |pages=139–143 |issn=0011-3212}}</ref>

The exact age of the [[Henge|henge monument]] at [[Stanton Drew stone circles]] is unknown, but it is believed to be [[Neolithic]].<ref>{{cite report |title=History and research |series=Stanton Drew stone circles and cove |publisher=English Heritage |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stanton-drew-circles-and-cove/history-and-research/ |access-date=26 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525100919/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stanton-drew-circles-and-cove/history-and-research |archive-date=25 May 2015 }}</ref> There are numerous [[Iron Age]] [[hill fort]]s, some of which, like [[Cadbury Castle, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]]<ref name="auto">{{cite report |title=Mendip Hills: An archaeological survey of the area of outstanding natural beauty |publisher=Somerset County Council |department=Archaeological Projects |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_MendipAONB.pdf |access-date=13 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516154619/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_MendipAONB.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2011 }}</ref> and [[Ham Hill, Somerset|Ham Hill]], were later reoccupied in the [[Early Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Rod |year=1992 |title=A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology |pages=72–74 |publisher=Dovecote Press |location=Wimborne, UK |isbn=0-946159-94-7}}</ref>