Organic artefacts are rarely discovered on Mesolithic sites because they rarely have the environmental conditions that preserve wood, bone and leather. This means that a huge proportion of objects that were important to Mesolithic people have not been preserved. Star Carr in North Yorkshire is one of the few sites in Britain with a large range of organic remains. Here, as well as the remains of prehistoric meals, archaeologists have discovered many tools made of bone and antler. They also found masks made of red deer antler, beads made of red deer teeth and bird bone, rolls of birch bark and the paddle of a boat. People at the site had also built a wooden platform from which to launch their boats. Unfortunately no examples of Mesolithic boats have been found in Britain.

These few finds give us an idea of the extent to which Mesolithic people depended on objects made from organic materials. Finds of other organic objects like nets, fish-weirs and fish traps from mainland Europe suggest that British Mesolithic people would also have used this type of equipment.