Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 16 July 2013 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Bridgland, D.R. and Harding, P. and Allen, P. and Candy, I. and Cherry, C. and George, W. and Horne, D.J. and Keen, D.H. and Penkman, K.E.H. and Preece, R.C. and Rhodes, E.J. and Scaife, R. and Schreve, D.C. and Schwenninger, J. and Slipper, I. and Ward, G.R. and White, M.J. and White, T.S. and Whittaker, J.E. (2013) 'An enhanced record of MIS 9 environments, geochronology and geoarchaeology : data from construction of the High Speed 1 (LondonChannel Tunnel) rail-link and other recent investigations at Pureet, Essex, UK.', Proceedings of the Geologists' Association., 124 (3). pp. 417-476. 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Purfleet Article Type: Research Paper Keywords: Thames terrace deposits; Palaeolithic; MIS 9 interglacial highstand; geochronology; biostratigraphy Corresponding Author: Dr David Bridgland, PhD Corresponding Author's Institution: University of Durham First Author: David Bridgland, PhD Order of Authors: David Bridgland, PhD Abstract: New data from the complex Lower Thames locality at Purfleet, Essex, reinforce the correlation of interglacial deposits there with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9, the second of four post- Anglian (MIS 12) interglacials recorded in the river terrace sequence east of London. Arising from various developer-funded archaeologically-driven projects, and primarily the construction of 'High Speed 1' (HS1: formerly the Channel Tunnel Rail Link), the new evidence includes additions to palaeontological knowledge of this interglacial, notably from ostracods and vertebrates, results from isotopic analyses of shell and concretionary carbonates, and the first application of numerical geochronological techniques at Purfleet. These analyses, combined with mutual climatic modelling of the ostracods, confirm that deposition of the fossilferous deposits coincided with interglacial conditions, with similar-to- or warmer-than-present summer temperatures and colder winters, providing a suggestion of greater continentality. OSL and amino-acid racemisation support correlation of the interglacial with MIS 9, whereas the climatic and sedimentological evidence points to correlation with the earliest and warmest substage (MIS 9e). There is also evidence that a greater part of the Purfleet sequence might date from the interglacial, although whether these also represent MIS 9e or later parts of the complex stage cannot be determined. The additional archaeological material is consistent with previous interpretations of a tripartite stratigraphical sequence of lithic traditions: basal Clactonian, above which is Acheulian (handaxe manufacture), followed by one of the earliest British appearances of Levallois technique. *Manuscript Click here to view linked References An enhanced record of MIS 9 environments, 1 2 geochronology and geoarchaeology: data from 3 4 construction of the High Speed 1 (London–Channel 5 6 Tunnel) rail-link and other recent investigations at 7 8 Purfleet, Essex, UK 9 10 a* b c c d d 11 David R. Bridgland , Phil Harding , Peter Allen , Ian Candy , Catherine Cherry , David J. Horne , David H. Keene+, Kirsty E.H. Penkmanf, Richard C. Preeceg, Edward J. Rhodesh, Rob Scaifei, Danielle 12 c j k l m n 13 C. Schreve , Jean-Luc Schwenninger , Ian Slipper , Graham Ward , Mark J. White , John E. Whittaker 14 a 15 Department of Geography, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK; 16 bWessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum, Salisbury SP4 6EB, UK 17 cDepartment of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK 18 dSchool of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS 19 e Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK 20 f 21 BioArCh, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK g 22 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK 23 hDepartment of Environmental & Geographical Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Street, 24 Manchester M1 5GD, UK 25 iHeyside, Dodpits Corner, Newbridge, Isle of Wight PO41 0TN, UK 26 jResearch Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3QJ, UK 27 k School of Science, University of Greenwich, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK 28 l 29 76 Hunter Avenua, Shenfield, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 8PG, UK m 30 Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK 31 nDepartment of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK 32 33 * Corresponding author; e-mail address: [email protected] 34 + deceased, 16 April 2006 35 36 ABSTRACT 37 38 New data from the complex Lower Thames locality at Purfleet, Essex, reinforce the 39 correlation of interglacial deposits there with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9, the second of 40 four post-Anglian (MIS 12) interglacials recorded in the river terrace sequence east of 41 London. Arising from various developer-funded archaeologically-driven projects, and 42 43 primarily the construction of ‘High Speed 1’ (HS1: formerly the Channel Tunnel Rail Link), 44 the new evidence includes additions to palaeontological knowledge of this interglacial, 45 notably from ostracods and vertebrates, results from isotopic analyses of shell and 46 concretionary carbonates, and the first application of geochronological techniques at 47 Purfleet. These analyses, combined with palaeotemperature estimates from the Mutual 48 49 Ostracod Temperate Range method, confirm that deposition of the fossilferous deposits 50 coincided with interglacial conditions, with similar-to- or warmer-than-present summer 51 temperatures and colder winters, providing a suggestion of greater continentality. OSL and 52 amino-acid racemisation support correlation of the interglacial with MIS 9, whereas the 53 54 climatic and sedimentological evidence points to correlation with the earliest and warmest 55 substage (MIS 9e). There is also evidence that a greater part of the Purfleet sequence 56 might date from the interglacial, although whether these also represent MIS 9e or later 57 parts of the complex stage cannot be determined. The additional archaeological material is 58 consistent with previous interpretations of a tripartite stratigraphical sequence of lithic 59 60 traditions: basal Clactonian, above which is Acheulian (handaxe manufacture), followed by 61 one of the earliest British appearances of Levallois technique. However, given the revised 62 63 1 64 65 interpretation of the climatic affinity of the upper parts of the sequence, Levallois technique might have been used at Purfleet before the end of MIS 9. 1 2 3 1. INTRODUCTION 4 5 The 100 kyr Milankovitch cycle containing the Marine oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 6 7 interglacial is without doubt the least well researched within the late Middle Pleistocene, 8 given the plethora of data now available from MIS 7 (e.g. Murton et al., 2001; Schreve, 9 2001, 2004; Schreve and Bridgland, 2002; Bridgland et al., 2003; Desprat et al., 2006; 10 Schreve et al., 2006; Roucoux et al., 2008) and MIS 11 (Droxler et al., 2003; Rousseau, 11 2003; Antoine and Limondin-Lozouet, 2004; Preece et al., 2007). Thus the Lower Thames 12 13 terrace sequence at Purfleet (Fig. 1), established with some confidence as representing 14 MIS 10–8 (Bridgland, 1994; Bridgland and Schreve, 2001, 2004; Schreve et al., 2002), 15 would be of considerable importance as a Quaternary fossiliferous locality even without its 16 Palaeolithic archaeological credentials: within the Purfleet sequence, three stratigraphically 17 18 discrete Palaeolithic industries have been documented, Clactonian, overlain by Acheulian, 19 overlain in turn by Levallois (Palmer, 1975; Wymer, 1985, 1999; Bridgland, 1994, 2006; 20 Schreve et al., 2002). Indeed, the