The girl has been named the “Ossick Lass”, translating to “Urswick Girl” in the local dialect.
The burial site is home to at least eight other individuals, providing evidence of deliberate burials dating back to the Mesolithic period. Due to their nomadic lifestyle, burials of this age were typically simple and are now exceptionally rare to find, making the “Ossick Lass” and adjacent remains one of the only Mesolithic burials in the country.
Local archaeologist Martin Stables describes finding other remains and artefacts when his excavations began nearly 10 years ago. "It’s as if I went back in time to 9,000BC", Stables explained. Proud of the local discovery, Stables was thrilled with the name "Ossick Lass".
While earlier human remains have been discovered in southern England and Wales, northern England was subject to damage by past glaciations, making such discoveries rare in the region due to nonviable conditions.
Previously, the earliest known northerner was found in a 10,000 year old burial at Kent’s Bank Cavern, also in Cumbria.
The discovery and subsequent research has been published in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society journal. Stables hopes that the paper will bring attention to the research and site, which he describes as a "unique site of national importance."
This discovery is hugely significant to the scientific and archaeological community, offering a glimpse into a period of humanity largely destroyed through time.