8500-4000 BC Mesolithic

Relatively little is known about the Mesolithic period in central England and few of the finds recovered from the area come from scientific excavations. Mesolithic people are known to have occasionally visited the caves in the limestone areas of Staffordshire and Creswell Crags in Derbyshire. Usually, only small quantities of Mesolithic finds have been recovered from these caves, which suggests that they were only used as temporary camps.

In north-east Warwickshire Mesolithic material is known from several sites on the hills. The wide variety of tools found at these sites suggests that many tasks were undertaken and that the sites were long-term residential camps. Unstone in Derbyshire and Misterton Carr in Nottinghamshire may also be similar long-term base camps. Smaller sites have been found in the Derbyshire uplands. The large quantities of microliths (modified small stone blades) found at these sites, suggests they were hunting camps.

We do not know much about the distances that people travelled around the landscape. Flint from Yorkshire and Lincolnshire has been found in Derbyshire, which shows there must have been some movement between those areas. Chemical analysis of human bone can tell us about the food that was eaten by that person. Analysis of a bone from Staythorpe in Nottingham shows that the person had not eaten sea-fish or seafood. This suggests that people living inland had little contact with the coast.