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The Later Mesolithic Period (6500-4500 BC)

The water levels continued to rise during the Mesolithic period and Britain finally became cut off from the Continent. In Hertfordshire, the Mesolithic people then spread onto the drier land in the upper reaches of the Lea and Colne river system and also began to colonise some of the more heavily wooded areas of the county. In particular, evidence is beginning to suggest that the clay-with-flints areas of the Chilterns appear to have been a favoured area for settlement. The land provided an abundant supply of raw material for tools (the flint), and the wooded areas would have provided a good supply of game.

A remarkable - and so far unique - late Mesolithic find of a small boat burial recently came to light during excavations in advance of gravel extraction at Old Parkbury, Radlett, adjacent to the river Colne. The boat - which has been dated by radiocarbon to 5005 BC - contained within it the remains of a small child which had been buried in a small box.