A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE LOWER-MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD OF THE CHALK UPLANDS OF NORTHWEST EUROPE The Chilterns, Pegsdon, Bedfordshire (photograph L. Blundell) Lesley Blundell UCL Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD September 2019 2 I, Lesley Blundell, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signed: 3 4 Abstract Our understanding of early human behaviour has always been and continues to be predicated on an archaeological record unevenly distributed in space and time. More than 80% of British Lower-Middle Palaeolithic findspots were discovered during the late 19th/early 20th centuries, the majority from lowland fluvial contexts. Within the British planning process and some academic research, the resultant findspot distributions are taken at face value, with insufficient consideration of possible bias resulting from variables operating on their creation. This leads to areas of landscape outside the river valleys being considered to have only limited archaeological potential. This thesis was conceived as an attempt to analyse the findspot data of the Lower-Middle Palaeolithic record of the Chalk uplands of southeast Britain and northern France within a framework complex enough to allow bias in the formation of findspot distribution patterns and artefact preservation/discovery opportunities to be identified and scrutinised more closely. Taking a dynamic, landscape = record approach, this research explores the potential influence of geomorphology, 19th/early 20th century industrialisation and antiquarian collecting on the creation of the Lower- Middle Palaeolithic record through the opportunities created for artefact preservation and release. It also explores the influence of differences between British and French Government archaeological policies and strategies, visualising the impact of each variable in turn on the creation of the findspot distribution patterns visible in that record. Based on the results of these visualisations, the thesis concludes that geomorphology has been the first and most influential variable, providing a more robust first-order explanation for distribution patterns than early human habitat preference alone. Late 19th/early 20th century industrialisation played the next most substantial role, its exposure of Pleistocene deposits creating opportunities for the antiquarian collectors whose activities ultimately created the findspot distribution patterns on which interpretations of early human behaviour have traditionally been based. 5 Impact Statement This thesis draws on Palaeolithic archaeology, Quaternary science and geomorphology to undertake an interdisciplinary enquiry into how our archaeological record was created. It examines the complex relationship between the record of human behaviour in the deep past, recent landscape use, the history of archaeological research and the distribution of surviving Pleistocene deposits. Focusing on the detailed Lower-Middle Palaeolithic record of the Chalk landscapes of southeast Britain and northern France, it proposes a new framework for looking at the archaeological data in relation to geomorphology that is directly transferable to other lowland landscapes dominated by soft-rock geology. The use of archaeological distribution patterns to identify early human landscape preference and behaviour is a key area of research within Lower-Middle Palaeolithic archaeology. This thesis makes a substantial contribution to that research by identifying the impact of external variables on the creation of those distribution patterns, thus enabling fuller and more rounded behavioural interpretations. In addition, the ability to identify the location of pockets of Pleistocene deposits without prior excavation by means of the electrical geophysical survey method tested during the Bellingdon case study potentially facilitates prospection for in situ Lower-Middle Palaeolithic archaeology at substantially reduced cost. Outside academia, this thesis has the potential to make a positive contribution to the local authority planning process and to conservation of the national heritage asset at a time when financial pressures have resulted in a substantial fall in the number of local authority historic environment advisory staff. Palaeolithic archaeology requires a specialised approach to fieldwork and the interpretation of the record at site and landscape scale and understanding the processes of preservation and release through which the archaeological record was formed is crucial for making informed planning decisions. By demonstrating that apparent distribution patterns in the archaeological record do not necessarily represent the true original and temporally dynamic distribution of past human behaviour through deep time, my research could inform the desk-based assessments and unsuitable (for the Palaeolithic) survey methods used during the planning process by non-Palaeolithic specialists to assess the likelihood of archaeological discovery and/or need for archaeological intervention. 6 Testing the use of electrical resistance tomography and electromagnetic survey to identify surviving Pleistocene deposits during the Bellingdon case study could potentially provide a more appropriate survey method. This thesis offers the basis for dissemination of its conclusions in journals and conference papers in the fields of archaeology, Quaternary science, local authority planning and heritage management. 7 Acknowledgements This thesis could not have been completed without the generous assistance of many people, to whom my grateful thanks are due. First and foremost I thank my supervisors, Matt Pope, Andy Garrard and the late John Catt, my geomorphology supervisor, for all their support, guidance and encouragement. John’s generosity and patience in sharing his expertise and knowledge of Clay-with-flints with a student who at first knew nothing about geomorphology was limitless and I deeply regret that he did not live to see me finish this thesis. I hope I have done him justice. Andy’s unfailing support, encouragement and interest in my progress throughout what has been a longer than expected PhD journey has kept me grounded and bolstered my determination to continue. It is very much appreciated. And finally, I thank Matt, who first conceived of a unified landscape approach to the Palaeolithic and suggested a potential link between Clay-with-flints survival and findspot density. Throughout, Matt has encouraged, challenged and stimulated me and pushed me to think in new and different ways. His expertise and boundless enthusiasm for the subject have kept me going and made the whole process exciting, for which I cannot thank him enough. Members of various departments of UCL provided help in a number of ways. From the Institute of Archaeology, Andy Bevan and Marc Vander Linden offered helpful advice on the best way to present spatial archaeological data and Peter Schauer repeatedly solved my practical problems with remote access to ArcGIS software. Nick Mann of the Geography Department Map Room offered me access to hard-copy French geology maps and supplied me with scanned copies of the most relevant ones. Robert Tomaszewski of the Geology Department Library tracked down and purchased a multilingual dictionary of geological terms at my request. I could never have got to grips with the French geological terminology without it! Staff from a range of institutions responded willingly to my numerous enquiries and/or welcomed me to their offices and I thank them all. The following Historic Environment Officers provided me with hospitality when I visited and provided me with access to the relevant hard-copy full English Rivers or Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project report, to HER records not 8 available online and to supporting grey literature. They are Stephen Coleman (Bedfordshire), Laura Hampden (Surrey), Susan Lisk (Oxfordshire) and Isobel Thompson (Hertfordshire), who also supplied me with a download of the Palaeolithic data from the county HER. Ben Croxford of Kent HER supplied me with electronic copies of the full reports 2 and 3 of the Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project, obviating the need for me to travel to Kent or Sussex HERs to consult them. Several Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison officers resolved my queries and provided me with access to records still ‘on review’ or ‘quarantined’ to enable me to check their relevance or otherwise to my research. They are Rosalind Tyrell (Buckinghamshire), Jennifer Jackson (Kent), Katie Hinds (Hants), Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevathan (Dorset) and Kate Sumnall, Finds Liaison Officer and Community Archaeologist at the Museum of London. Samantha Harris, Collections Manager at Maidstone Museum sent me scanned copies of the 6” OS maps on which Benjamin Harrison marked his finds and which are stored at the museum. I am grateful also to Heydon Bailey, Geology Advisor to the Chiltern Society, a specialist in Chalk field studies who kindly put me in touch with Ursula Lawrence, an engineering geologist; to Ursula for supplying me with a copy of her PhD thesis on the Clay-with-flints of the areas around the Thames Basin and discussing the stability of the deposits with me; to Rob Hosfield of Reading University for loaning me a hard copy of his thesis on the Palaeolithic of the Hampshire Basin; and to Martin Bates of the University of Wales Trinity St David’s for the loan of his hard copy geology maps of the