Mesolithic and Neolithic
Neolithic or Late Stone Age (4000 - 2200 BC)
In the Mesolithic times there were several settlement sites along the edge of River Thames floodplain.
The location of the settlement shows the importance of the river for transportation.
Neolithic Settlements
Earliest farmers made small clearings in the forest to graze livestock. People didn't live in just one place. They moved around as hunter-gatherers following giant elk, red deer, aurochs and wild pigs in the forest.
Evidence also indicates the importance of the high ground for viewing the surrounding landscape and the early establishment of routes across the landscape.
Mesolithic Activity on Castle Hill
Evidence of Early Neolithic activity is small, with only a few flints found on Castle Hill.
An axe, probably from Late Neolithic Period, has been found at College Farm behind Long Wittenham.
A spread of Neolithic flint scatters, of Middle or Late Neolithic period, have been found stretching east from Long Wittenham across the gravel terrace. This could possibly represent an early track crossing from west to east across the neck of the bow in the River Thames, and following the slightly higher ground.
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