RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION FRAMEWORK FOR THE BRITISH PALAEOLITHIC

The Prehistoric Society April 2008

Research and Conservation Framework for the British Palaeolithic

Summary The vibrancy of multi-disciplinary Palaeolithic archaeology that was identified in the first research frameworks document has continued to grow, resourced through a radically different funding landscape and facilitated by new research agendas for archaeology and the natural environment. Building upon themes identified in 1999, four primary research themes and eight strategic research and conservation themes have been identified.

Primary Research Themes Strategic Research and Conservation Themes Hominin Environments and Climate Drivers Areas Hominin Demographies: the Palaeoecology of Understanding the Record Hominin Colonisation and Settlement Processes How We Became Human: Social, Cultural and Dating Frameworks Economic Change Sharing Human Origins: Developing Curation and Conservation New Audiences Dealing with Development Professional Training Education Collections and Records Enhancement

Introduction: Considerable advances have been made in all areas of Palaeolithic research since the 1999 document, as The Wider Context was shown at a specially convened meeting held in Peterborough in March 2006. For this reason, and Over the last decade, English Heritage has instigated because fundamental changes to the funding the development of Regional Research Frameworks landscape have occurred since 1999, the framework for archaeology, and has acted responsively to is ripe for revision. proposals for period-based strategies. The first such This document covers England and Wales, since document for Palaeolithic and Mesolithic convincing traces of Palaeolithic archaeology are, as archaeology in Britain was published in 19991,in yet, absent from Scotland and Ireland. The recognition that the Palaeolithic period was largely Welsh/English border is a product of the last few ‘missing out’ in discussions of national research thousand years and is of no bearing on the priorities and funding issues. The document played Palaeolithic. Although Wales has a specific research an essential role in outlining what the Palaeolithic agenda, Palaeolithic scholars commonly integrate community had achieved to that point, what it England and Wales within wider concerns and the wanted to achieve and how the procurement of continuation of this practice is encouraged, funding was perceived. particularly through the collaboration of English English Heritage recommends that research Heritage and Natural England with Cadw and the frameworks are periodically reviewed and updated. Countryside Council for Wales.

1Research Frameworks for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Britain and Ireland. A Report by the Working Party for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Annual Day Meeting and the Council of The Prehistoric Society. July 1999. Working Party Members: C.S. Gamble, P.A. Mellars, F. Healy, J. Wymer, S. Aldhouse-Green, N. Ashton, N. Barton, A. Lawson, P. Pettitt

1 The importance of practising Palaeolithic current funding and research landscape. Unlike archaeology within the context of Quaternary other periods and archaeological disciplines the science is reflected in the composition of the Palaeolithic has not before united as a formally Working Group, which comprises Palaeolithic defined interest group. It has, however, benefited archaeologists, faunal specialists, geologists, considerably from non-formalised collaborations geographers, dating specialists, curators, museum within the Quaternary world, particularly through and education staff, and representatives of profes- unifying bodies such as the QRA, the Prehistoric sional bodies such as Natural England, English Society, the Lithic Studies Society, and the Heritage, the Quaternary Research Association Palaeolithic-Mesolithic research meetings hosted by (QRA), the Geologists’ Association, the National the British Museum. Oceanographic Centre, the Prehistoric Society, the The research themes identified by the Working British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru – National Group, which are outlined below, provide clear and Museum Wales. The Quaternary community should ongoing means of maintaining the collective synergy be proud of the significant levels of interdisciplinary of Palaeolithic archaeologists and Quaternary collaboration in the study of the Pleistocene, which scientists. We share many common interests, which in Britain had its infancy with the work of Buckland cut across the delineated domains of institutions in the 1820s and as a tradition goes back to the work such as English Heritage, Natural England, of Prestwich and Evans and the professionalisation universities and national and regional museums. of archaeology in the mid-19th century. Such strengths can have enormous benefit to Our understanding of the climate, environments research, conservation, education and outreach if and faunal communities of the Pleistocene is, at the deployed innovatively, and the themes that follow beginning of the 21st century, unparalleled among should maximise this benefit. pre-Holocene periods of Earth history. Financial Wider research guidance is now in place at a resources unimagined in 1999, such as the national level. The broadened remit of the recently Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) and formed Natural England (previously English Nature) NERC EFCHED (Environmental Factors in the allows for the active incorporation of landscape and Chronology of Human Evolution and Dispersal) education themes in its agenda, focusing more programme, large-scale research projects such as the widely than purely site-by-site management plans. Leverhulme Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Regional Archaeological Research Frameworks foster project (AHOB), and new discoveries ranging from a research culture among curators and commercial some of the earliest traces of hominin2 activity in contractors as well as the wider archaeological Europe to the first examples of Upper Palaeolithic community, and research foci should ideally be wide cave art, have forced a significant revision of the and inclusive, not restricted to academics. British Palaeolithic and its international significance. Quaternary researchers and professional bodies The multidisciplinary Stage 3 Project, directed from should present a united front on Pleistocene matters. Cambridge, was a notable achievement (van Andel PPG16 (on archaeology and planning) and PPS9 and Davies 2003). In addition, NERC has funded a (on biodiversity and geological conservation) form £3.4 million consortium bid focused on human resources that can be implemented in planning responses to abrupt environmental transitions over matters to the benefit of the Palaeolithic. Closer the last 100,000 years, which commenced in January integration with the strategies of the minerals 2008 and involves Royal Holloway, the University of industry and their trade associations is highly Oxford, the Natural History Museum and the desirable, and the Working Group intends this National Oceanographic Centre. Palaeolithic document to help promote strong collaboration. archaeologists have also played a significant role in Fieldwork is critical to the success of Palaeolithic the wider field of human evolution. They co-direct archaeology, and depends on fruitful collaboration the British Academy’s Centenary Project (2003– with the aggregates industry, which provides many of 2010) From Lucy to Language: the Archaeology of the the opportunities for this to happen. Despite this, Social Brain, and play a key role in the major the Working Group has identified few active infrastructure project established in 2000, the Palaeolithic excavations in Britain that could serve to Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies educate students in the basic principles of in Cambridge. Palaeolithic fieldwork. Students tend to learn their Such vibrancy and innovation lie at the very heart fieldwork skills elsewhere and their geology from the of Palaeolithic research. Despite these huge QRA, whereas it would be desirable to have sites achievements, however, we need to be vigilant in which allow combined learning outcomes. The maintaining a high profile for the Palaeolithic in the ‘flagship’ sites have passed or are passing into the

2Hominin: member of the subfamily Homininae and for the purposes of this document an extant or extinct human

2 Fluvial sequences and Palaeolithic archaeology the terrace sequence for the basin as a whole often provides the only means of establishing the age of the Much of the evidence on which our understanding of archaeology. The fluvial sediments may also contain the Palaeolithic is based comes from fluvial sequences. datable materials, either in association with the This can be in the rare situations where artefacts are archaeology or at another location that can be related to preserved in situ as they are covered by sediments the assemblage through the stratigraphic framework deposited in low energy conditions or, more commonly, provided by the fluvial sequence. The Middle in secondary contexts, having been reworked by high Palaeolithic site at Lynford in Norfolk illustrates the energy river systems and deposited as part of the importance of understanding the depositional bedload of the braided rivers which have formed much environment. In this case the human presence is closely of the terraced fluvial archive that is preserved today. linked to the presence of large mammals on the Therefore understanding the depositional regime is of floodplain of a braided river system and the great importance as this underpins interpretation of the stratigraphic and landscape context of the artefact taphonomy of the assemblages. The stratigraphic assemblage can be reconstructed in some detail. context of the assemblage within a gravel aggradation that has spatial continuity and can be understood within Simon Lewis archive, and we should now be seeking actively to Sea/Doggerland continues to improve our maintain a strong presence in the field. One understanding of the nature of this connection. perceived problem is that health and safety Regular contacts and joint projects are being legislation may have prevented fieldwork directors pursued with experts in marine archaeology in from taking students into quarry environments, Germany, the Netherlands and France. AHOB II which potentially isolates the new generation from a and international workshops on comparative major part of the Palaeolithic record. However, the archaeology, such as Early Palaeolithic and Late- potential significance of surface archaeology of glacial round tables, promote this effectively. Palaeolithic age has yet to be realised in Britain, and European Union funding is a potential but as yet should be integrated into projects focused on rivers untapped source of major support, and such and their deposits; there should also be opportunities international and interdisciplinary perspectives will here for working with the aggregates community. increase funding opportunities for Palaeolithic River valleys can be explored as analytical units: the projects. Lea Valley will be developed as part of the Olympic Appropriate conservation of Pleistocene deposits, Games and should serve as a model for quantifying such as the Sussex Raised Beach or coastal sections loss of the Palaeolithic resource through such like Pakefield and Clacton, is dependent upon the projects. In terms of surface archaeology the Final relationship between the research community, Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cannot be curators (primarily in local planning authorities) and separated, and assessment of this resource can only industry. Improving this will require the fully occur through considering both together. development of effective protocols, education and Britain has an enviable Palaeolithic record, one training for archaeologists and industry, and that forms a critical resource for global research application of the planning policy documents questions. Britain is located at the north-west mentioned above, which is far more uneven than for extremity of hominin life in the Pleistocene Old ‘surface archaeology’ of later periods. The general World; it has a world-class record of in situ and raising of awareness among local communities secondary context Lower Palaeolithic sites, including concerning the significance of the Pleistocene some of the oldest in Europe; the long history of resource can also be an effective way of realising research into the period includes an instrumental conservation aims. Research has an important role in role in the origins of the professional discipline; and underpinning all this as we cannot effectively a strong intellectual life in the present day places the conserve what we do not understand. The recent British Palaeolithic at the forefront of archaeological Government White Paper Heritage Protection for the research (Roe 2000). British Palaeolithic scholars 21st Century recommends expanding the existing work outside modern political boundaries, and the designation system of listed buildings and scheduled Working Group promotes the extension of British monuments to cover sites of early human activity Palaeolithic research into adjacent regions of Europe that lack structures, which the Working Group through appropriate collaboration. For much of wholeheartedly supports. Pleistocene time Britain was physically joined to the As the discipline of archaeology continues to Continent, and research into the continental shelves, develop, it has become clear since the 1999 English Channel/Manche and North document that Mesolithic archaeology has developed

3 a distinct agenda and set of requirements. Because significance to the period. This represents a huge of this, the decision was taken to deal with each change in the funding landscape for Palaeolithic separately, although the Late Upper archaeology and Quaternary Science. ALSF funding Palaeolithic–Mesolithic transition remains a key specifically supported the following areas of research question from both perspectives. In order to research, all of which provide frameworks for future promote synergy between the Palaeolithic and research: Mesolithic working groups, the convenor of the working group on Mesolithic Britain joined the Site excavation, analysis and outreach – for example, British Palaeolithic Working Group. the excavation of the Late Middle Palaeolithic site at Lynford Quarry (Norfolk); assessment of the Lower Palaeolithic potential of Valdoe Quarry (Sussex); re- Achievements Since The 1999 interpretation of the Lower Palaeolithic and fauna of Welton-le-Wold (Lincolnshire); and the acquisition Frameworks Document of Boxgrove (Sussex) which, it is hoped, will provide a permanent focus for Lower Palaeolithic research. The 1999 Research Frameworks for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Britain and Ireland focused upon three Regional survey and mapping – reconstruction of strategic research themes (colonisation and palaeolandscapes in the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal recolonisation; settlement patterns and settlement Corridor, Middle and Lower Trent Catchments, histories; social organisation and belief systems), Medway Valley and Palaeolithic Rivers of South- field and survey projects (subdivided into surveys, West Britain. These have permitted the assessments and publication of key sites) and reinterpretation of existing collections and will assist education, display and information exchange. It in the future management of the resource by identified a series of specific research questions and curators. A number of more widely focused survey priorities for each. Key strengths identified in British and mapping projects, covering such diverse topics Palaeolithic archaeology included long-term as the drift geology of London and known mineral commitments to major projects such as the Boxgrove extraction sites in the Greater Thames area, make a excavations, the Southern Rivers and English Rivers significant enhancement to the Palaeolithic resource. surveys (Wymer 1999), and the Palaeolithic Settlement of Wales project. Fruitful collaboration Analytical methods and dating – projects have with Quaternary scientists included dating projects, improved understanding of the interpretative environmental reconstruction, faunal analyses and a potential of material from fluvial aggregates on river number of multi-disciplinary excavations such as terraces and floodplain landforms; modelling of the Boxgrove, High Lodge, Barnham and Hengistbury stratigraphy of English valley landforms; and the Head. The excellence of Palaeolithic research was chronology of British aggregates using Amino Acid attested by a number of high-profile publications. Racemisation (AAR) and degradation. They have It was recognised that British Palaeolithic also developed the use of luminescence dating, research was relevant to international research into particularly for river terraces. human evolution, and given that a number of British Palaeolithic archaeologists were actively involved in Archives and collections – four major archives have international research the exchange of good practice been targeted since 1999, three of which were was easy to demonstrate. The strategic themes supported through ALSF.The Roger Jacobi and identified in the national framework followed the John Wymer archives have been digitised by projects approach outlined by English Heritage (for example run by Wessex Archaeology. An audit and assessment in Exploring Our Past: Strategies for the Archaeology of of the internationally recognised Pleistocene England, 1991) and took into account new funding collection from Creswell Crags and the surrounding structures that had emerged through PPG16 and Creswell Limestone Heritage Area have been NPPG5, the transfer of science-based archaeology completed, and the Stopes Palaeolithic Archive funding to NERC, and the reformed AHRB (now project related find spots to mapped sedimentary AHRC). The need to focus on research priorities units and thus provided considerable contextual and secure resources for future research was the information for the major collections now held in main rationale behind the report. National Museum Wales. Since 2002 the Palaeolithic in England has benefited directly from around £2 million funding Strategic and outreach projects – the Shotton Project from the ALSF, administered through the English and its successor the National Ice Age Network have Heritage grants scheme, with an additional £1 done much to raise the profile of Pleistocene million supporting Quaternary projects of remains discovered during quarrying and have begun

4 Pakefield and Happisburgh

Since 2000 increased coastal erosion has led to the discovery for the first time of several sites in East Anglia within the Cromer Forest-bed Formation (CF-bF). The CF-bF consists of organic sediments laid down in channels and on floodplains of rivers that drained the Midlands, and interleaves with shallow marine deposits in East Anglia. The deposits cover a considerable time- span of over 2 million years, but pre-date the overlying Happisburgh Till. Until recently this till has been interpreted as part of the Anglian Glaciation (MIS 12), but new interpretations have proposed an MIS 16 age.

The new sites include Pakefield (Suffolk), where over thirty flakes and a core have been found in association Excavation of the Cromer Forest-bed on the foreshore at with environmental data, indicating that humans were Happisburgh in 2004; the cliff erosion can be seen in the occupying the edges of a river in a Mediterranean-type background (© Nigel Larkin) climate. The association with the extinct water vole Mimomys suggests an age of c. 700,000 years (MIS 17 perhaps attributable to MIS 13 or 15. This is in conflict or late MIS 19). Another new site on the foreshore at with an MIS 16 age for the overlying Happisburgh Till. Happisburgh (Norfolk) consists of a handaxe with These sites are amongst the earliest in northern Europe flakes, flake tools and cut-marked deer and bison bone. and have implications for the nature and timing of the Beetles, wood and pollen indicate an open valley colonisation of northern latitudes by early humans. surrounded by boreal forest. Association with the water vole Arvicola suggests a later date than Pakefield, Nick Ashton the process of forming an effective and systematic Britain as early as 700,000 BP (Parfitt et al. 2005). approach towards the recognition, reporting, In Suffolk, new excavations at Elveden have recovery and recording of such materials. The considerably improved understanding of this classic Creswell Crags Limestone Heritage Area project site (Ashton et al. 2005) and new excavations at stands as a model of an integrated archaeological, Hoxne have clarified issues of the context and palaeontological, ecological and access management chronology of two main Palaeolithic assemblages plan for the main gorges in this area and has (Ashton et al. 2003). provided predictive modelling for the existence and The excavation of the mammoth accumulation location of Palaeolithic/Pleistocene sites elsewhere. site of Lynford (Norfolk) has provided Britain’s first The Creswell Limestone Heritage Area strategy major Middle Palaeolithic open site (Lord 2002; forms a strong economic and social regeneration Boismier et al. 2003; Schreve 2006). Excavations at driver for this former coalfield area using the the Early Upper Palaeolithic leafpoint site of Glaston significant Pleistocene cultural heritage to promote (Rutland) have thrown light on Neanderthal activity education, training and a pride in place, as well as and hyaena denning in a steppic landscape (Cooper encouraging inward investment. The Heritage 2004). The discovery of Britain’s first examples of Lottery Fund has provided £5 million to develop the Palaeolithic cave art was made in two caves at Creswell Crags Museum and Education Centre and Creswell Crags on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire with other funders will help to produce a major border in 2003 (Bahn and Pettitt in press a); these national interpretative resource for the later resulted in a major international conference in 2004 Palaeolithic. Most ALSF-funded projects have (Pettitt et al. 2007). Since this discovery the English included significant outreach such as websites, Cave Art Survey team, commissioned by English popular publications and talks. Heritage, has systematically surveyed most English caves for possible cave art (Bahn and Pettitt in press Significant levels of activity supported through b). Excavations have resumed at Creswell Crags after diverse means include a number of new field an intermission of some eighteen years and a major discoveries, revisions and publications of existing reanalysis of the Palaeolithic archaeology of Church sites and collections, and research syntheses. For the Hole has been published (Jacobi 2007a) while a Lower Palaeolithic, discoveries at Pakefield and general review of the Palaeolithic archaeology of the Happisburgh in the intra-Cromerian deposits of Crags is forthcoming (Pettitt and Jacobi in press). Norfolk provide evidence of hominin activity in Other significant Late Upper Palaeolithic sites were

5 The Valdoe Assessment Survey environmental evidence. The work has demonstrated that future investigations in this landscape, combined The Valdoe is now recognised as an important Middle with renewed research at the main Boxgrove site, will Pleistocene locale within Southern Britain. It is located continue to drive our behavioural understanding of 6 km from the key site of Boxgrove, recognised for its Middle Pleistocene hominins in northern Europe. unique geological and palaeoenvironmental context preserving unparalleled in situ remains. The Valdoe Matt Pope Quarry sits at the heart of this area, an active sand and gravel quarry operated by Dudman Ltd since 1986.

In 2006 a final phase of gravel extraction was planned at the site, removing a strip of intact deposits in the north of the quarry. As permissions were given for this extraction prior to PPG16 implementation, planning legislation could not be invoked to prevent this quarrying operation. The quarry management were co- operative and sensitive to the importance of the archaeology; they agreed that a survey could take place during the extraction phase. Through the ALSF, English Heritage funded excavations aimed at recovering environmental and archaeological evidence. It was determined through this work that 9 ha of the palaeolandsurface had been lost during extraction, yet allowed the recovery of in situ artefacts and palaeo- Excavating the palaeosol at the Valdoe discovered at Newtown Lynford, Leicestershire Oppenheimer’s The Origins of the British (2006), (Cooper 2002) and Launde on the Leicestershire/ have drawn strongly on the Palaeolithic. Recent Rutland border (Cooper 2006). progress in identifying submerged Mesolithic and A number of major sites have been revisited and Palaeolithic remains in the North Sea has been published. These include the Lower Palaeolithic sites summarised in the multi-authored book edited by of Beeches Pit, Suffolk (Gowlett et al. 2005; Preece Nic Flemming (2004) while there has been et al. 2006); Foxhall Road, Ipswich, Suffolk (White considerable progress in mapping, dating and and Plunkett 2005); Red Barns, Hampshire assessing the potential of submerged North Sea (Wenban-Smith et al. 2000); Swanscombe, Kent landscapes (Gaffney et al. 2007; Ward et al. 2006; (Wenban-Smith and Bridgland 2001; Wenban-Smith Ward and Larcombe 2008). et al. 2006); Waverley Wood,Warwickshire (Keen et A number of research and review papers on the al. 2006); and West Thurrock, Essex (Schreve et al. British Palaeolithic have appeared, including works 2006). They also include the Middle and Upper on the relevance of the Welsh Early Middle Palaeolithic material from Paviland Cave, West Palaeolithic to the development of technology Glamorgan (Aldhouse-Green 2000); Upper (Aldhouse-Green 2001); Lower Palaeolithic Palaeolithic material from Gough’s Cave, Somerset population decline (Ashton and Lewis 2002); (Jacobi 2004); Final/Terminal Upper Palaeolithic hominin habitat preferences in the Hoxnian (Ashton material from sites in the Kennet Valley, including et al. 2006); the recolonisation of Britain after the Avington VI (Froom 2005), and the Early Upper Last Glacial Maximum (Barton 1999; Barton et al. Palaeolithic leafpoint site of Beedings in Sussex 2003; Blockley et al. 2000; 2006; Gamble et al. 2004; (Jacobi 2007b); and a major interdisciplinary re- 2005); the significance of rivers for the Palaeolithic analysis of Pontnewydd Cave, Clwyd (Aldhouse- of Britain in European perspective (e.g. Bridgland et Green et al. in prep.). al. 2006); a formal mammalian biostratigraphy for The AHOB project has done much to produce a the British Upper Pleistocene (Currant and Jacobi calendar of human presence in Britain during the 2001); Palaeolithic archaeology from fluvial Pleistocene and published an accessible account of landscapes in south-west Britain (Hosfield 2005); the entire Pleistocene period in Chris Stringer’s best- the British Lower Palaeolithic and the Clactonian selling Homo Britannicus (2006). AHOB II is (McNabb 2007; White 2000); a major review of the furthering this work until 2010 and extending out to British Upper Palaeolithic (Pettitt in press); a review include collaborative work on the Continent. Books of British Palaeolithic art (Pettitt and Bahn 2007); on genetics and British identity, such as Stephen social implications of the artefact scatters at

6 Boxgrove (Pope and Roberts 2005); biostratigraphic Research Themes Achievements or Under- differentiation between British late Middle Achievements since 1999 Pleistocene interglacials (Schreve 2001); Lower and Middle Palaeolithic clay-with-flint deposits (Scott- Tracing relations • Progressive build-up of evidence for sites Jackson 2000); origins of Levallois technology between Britain and in the southern North Sea where there (White and Ashton 2003); British Middle the nearest parts of appear to have been concentrations of Palaeolithic bout coupé bifaces (White and Jacobi the Continent (cont.) human activity, not just random finds 2002); peninsular/insular views of Palaeolithic (Flemming 2004;Ward and Larcombe Britain (White and Schreve 2000); Early Middle 2008) Palaeolithic Britain (White et al. 2006); and the pre- • Comparison of British Late Upper Anglian palaeoliths of Norfolk (Wymer 2001). Palaeolithic cave art and assemblages Improvements in the pre-treatment of bone for with those of the Continent (e.g. Pettitt AMS radiocarbon dating at Oxford have 2007; Jacobi 2007a) considerably improved our understanding of the chronology of the late Middle and Upper Establishing with • Re-analysis and dating of the Paviland Palaeolithic (Jacobi et al. 2006). The conservation greater precision the burial (Aldhouse-Green 2000; Jacobi audit of caves in the Peak District and Yorkshire timing of the arrival of and Higham in press), the Early Upper Dales, undertaken by Sheffield and Bradford Homo sapiens in Palaeolithic of Pin Hole, Creswell, and Universities, is a significant step in improving Britain Uphill Quarry cave 8 (Jacobi et al. understanding and conservation of the cave resource 2006) (Holderness et al. 2007). The Regional Research • Publication of the Beedings Leaf Point Framework process has also provided important assemblage and review of British opportunities for reviewing current knowledge of the leafpoint assemblages (Jacobi 2007b). Palaeolithic regionally (e.g. McNabb 2006; Lang and • Comparison of British Aurignacian with Buteux 2007; Hosfield in press). Continental examples (R. Dinnis The following tables assess achievements since ongoing PhD with P. Pettitt, University 1999 in relation to the themes identified in the first of Sheffield) frameworks document: Examining the pattern • Marine data do not yet provide of re-colonisation after sufficient detail yet to help here, but the the Last Glacial data are gradually being assembled in Maximum the coastal waters of UK, France and 1999 Research Themes the Netherlands (Flemming 2004;Ward Research Themes Achievements or Under- et al. 2006) Achievements since 1999 • Raw material procurement and curation in the British Late Magdalenian Human interaction • Discoveries of artefacts and evidence (Rockman 2003) with, and impact upon, of butchery on the floodplain of the • Development of land-use models for faunal communities Bytham and Ancaster Rivers Late Magdalenian societies in Britain from the Middle • Excavation of the Lynford Middle (Pettitt 2007) Pleistocene to the Palaeolithic site, which needs further Pleistocene-Holocene research into cutmarks and butchery Exploring • Re-examination of Sproughton, Suffolk transition patterns (Schreve 2006) environmental change using modern technology for dating and • Discovery of palaeontological and its impact over palaeoclimate interpretation material and Palaeolithic worked the Pleistocene- • A great deal has been done to assess bones from the centre of the North Holocene transition more accurately sea levels, the pattern of Sea, by Dutch archaeologists in sea level rise, position of shorelines, correspondence with British coastal environments, etc (e.g. papers in specialists Journal of Quaternary Science 18 (3–4), 2003; Fitch et al. 2005;Ward et al. Tracing relations • Leverhulme Award to Royal 2006) between Britain and the Holloway, University of London to nearest parts of the investigate dating of the opening of Undertaking a • Ongoing use of ultrafiltration Continent the English Channel (PI Jim Rose, quality-control audit preparation of AMS radiocarbon PDRA Steve Pawley) of available samples from the British Late Middle • Island Britain research by White and radiocarbon dates for Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic is Schreve (2000) and Gupta et al. the late Middle and removing erroneous dates (Bronk (2007) Upper Palaeolithic Ramsey et al. 2004; Jacobi et al. 2006)

7 Research Themes Achievements or Under- Research Themes Achievements or Under- Achievements since 1999 Achievements since 1999

How much of the • Firm evidence now exists for human Application of the • Lynford Middle Palaeolithic lithics Pleistocene saw occupation in MIS 17, 13, 11, 9, 7, 3 chaîne opératoire (White in prep.) human occupation in and 2 with tentative evidence for concept to social Britain? occupation in MIS 19 and 15 (Ashton technology and Lewis 2002) • Commencement of analysis of the Reassessment of • Some carved bones discovered offshore possible function of the continental shelf faunal remains as a seem to carry decoration rather than as a refugium/transit zone when the symbolic resource being obviously functional present UK land mass was not occupied Transference of social • This theme requires further research organisation onto spat- Did the length of • Until the precision of dating methods ial patterning on sites occupation increase as improves this remains speculative. humans became Before MIS 3 precision allows us to What was the regional • Discoveries in the offshore zone are better adapted to place sites in isotope stages only.This scale of settlement adding to understanding of this issue climate and environ- remains an area of under-achievement systems and how are (Flemming 2004) mental change? these reflected archaeologically? To what extent did • This theme requires further research Palaeolithic occupants of Britain intensify Survey and Assessment Desiderata subsistence behaviour? Recommendations Achievements or Under- Does the British • The Early Palaeolithic record is for Action Achievements since 1999 Palaeolithic record concentrated on river and shallow reflect a full marine sites, but this may just be a A comparable survey • White and Jacobi (2002) but remains (permanent, annual) function of preservation potential to TERPS for the under-researched settlement system at • Ongoing research into the Late Upper British Middle any time? What nature Palaeolithic is beginning to link seasonal Palaeolithic, system- does this take? adaptations into a wider picture (e.g. atising data on type Pettitt 2007; Pettitt and Jacobi in press) fossils such as bout coupé bifaces What changes in • The isotopic study of a small landscape use and assemblage of Late Magdalenian lithics Updating the Late • This recommendation requires further organisation of tech- by Rockman (2003) remains isolated at Upper Palaeolithic work. A start has been made with the nology are indicated present. Comparable studies are desired element of the CBA digitisation of the Jacobi archive by raw material and this remains an area of under- gazetteer movement studies? achievement. Incorporation of • This recommendation requires further How did caves and • High-quality data from newly- material gathered by work open sites fit into discovered caves are required to address fieldwalking over the settlement systems? this issue.The lack of large, well- last 20 years in the understood open sites of the Upper above Palaeolithic should be addressed. • Ongoing discovery of sites and distri- A geographical survey • This recommendation requires further bution patterns of tools in the sub- of chalk landscapes work merged landscape should contribute and their Palaeolithic towards our understanding of the potential distribution of open sites Incorporation of • Heritage Protection White Paper Systematic compil- • Analysis of the source of red ochre Palaeolithic sites and provides first step towards achieving this ation of ochre use, associated with the Paviland burial landscapes into the personal ornament- (Young 2000) Monuments Pro- ation and other indi- • Review of British Upper Palaeolithic art tection Programme cators of ‘symbolic’ (Pettitt and Bahn 2007) behaviour

8 Recommendations Achievements or Under- Recommendations Achievements or Under- for Action Achievements since 1999 for Action Achievements since 1999

In light of the above, • Heritage Protection White Paper Publication of key • Numerous monographs and papers - consideration of proposes such a change.The protection sites, including ‘gold see text and, in particular,Wymer whether rewording of of seabed material is uncertain, although standard’ site (1999) the legislation for there is much good intention from the monographs protecting open-air Heritage Agencies.Technically they are sites is necessary responsible out to the 12 mile limit, but Education, Display and Information Exchange accept in-principle responsibility for the Recommendations Achievements or Under- whole UK continental shelf Achievements since 1999

Creation of a national • This recommendation requires further Long-term • English Heritage announced in 2003 register of curated work preservation and that the Boxgrove Quarry was to be Palaeolithic finds display of Boxgrove bought for the nation, using ALSF funds, in order to protect the site for the A regional inter- • AHOB’s strength is its interdisciplinary future. Plans have been drawn up by the disciplinary assess- basis; this creates tensions but they are Boxgrove Project for the partial restor- ment of potential worth the effort ation of the site and development of a Pleistocene deposits field centre and negotiations about the for a more balanced future of the site are ongoing national coverage Support for Creswell • Major support at Creswell Crags for a Assessment of the • This has begun: the Department of Crags Heritage series of key infrastructure projects that potential of Trade and Industry commissioned a Lottery Fund bid were considered barriers to World underwater and series of reports which have been Heritage Status in 1986 (removal of coastal resources for published on their website sewage treatment works; re-landscaping the Palaeolithic http://www.offshore-sea.org.uk. Six and formation of Crags Meadow; reports (2002–7) document the relocation of the B6042 away from the prehistory of different UK marine gorge; restoration of the gorge) concession areas • Support from English Heritage and the • In addition,Wessex Archaeology have Heritage Lottery Fund for the been looking at offshore extensions of development of the Creswell Crags the Bytham and Ancaster rivers with Conservation Plan in 2001 and the interesting results Management Action Plan for the wider Magnesian Limestone Heritage Area in National guidelines • A conservation audit of cave sites in the 2004 on the relationship Peak District and Yorkshire Dales has • Accepted bids to the Heritage Lottery between caves and been carried out (Holderness et al. Fund, East Midlands Development open sites 2007) Agency and the European Regional Development Fund for the new Feasibility studies to • This theme requires geomorphological Museum and Education facilities at assess the potential of and Quaternary predictive models. Both Creswell Crags, to provide state-of-the- deeply-buried sites, have developed substantially over the art displays and resources for the inter- test the validity of period.The critical models are: pretation of the Palaeolithic, scheduled current distribution • Understanding patterns of ‘pre-glacial’ for opening in December 2008 patterns, generate rivers, such as the Bytham and Ancaster • Strengthening of the case for World new data from rivers Heritage Status following the discovery unfamiliar sources, • Understanding processes of river de- at Creswell of the UK’s first examples of and provide detailed velopment to derive a robust timeframe Palaeolithic cave art and subsequent information to • Understanding the ages and processes excavation outside Church Hole curators and of lowland glaciation in Britain to managers of explain patterns of resource survival and Creation of visitor • Creswell, as above collections preservation centres at key sites

Predictive computer • Prediction depends upon many Creation of travelling • Small exhibitions produced as part of modelling of present geomorphological and taphonomic exhibitions various ALSF projects; British Museum and future distribution processes; we need to understand Partnership UK touring exhibition patterns whether this is feasible Made In Africa

9 Recommendations Achievements or Under- climate forcing and orbital models form the bedrock Achievements since 1999 for Palaeolithic archaeology. These aim to investigate the archaeological aspects of adaptation, colonisation Museums should be • National Museum Wales now has basic and occupation – e.g. how hominins adapted to encouraged to data on all its Palaeolithic collections environmental change and how climate drove such enhance access to available on line through the changes and hominin speciation events. material, e.g. through Archaeology Data Service Website. All CDs and online its Welsh collection data are integrated ™ What effect did Pleistocene climate change have facilities with site data through the CARN (Core upon British environments and faunal Archaeological Record Index) database communities? hosted by the Royal Commission on the ™ How much of Pleistocene time saw the presence Ancient and Historical Monuments of of hominins in Britain or on the adjacent Wales. continental shelf? • Development of the Virtually the Ice ™ What were the specific environmental and climatic Age website for Creswell Crags tolerances of hominins in Britain? Were there (http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/ regional cultural differences in this or changes virtuallytheiceage/index.html) which over time? Were there some cold-adapted cultures won the Channel 4 British just as there are now? Where were the refugia? Archaeological Awards in 2001. ™ How did hominin subsistence, technical and • Virtually the Ice Age material reworked social strategies respond to climate change over into education resources including CD- the long-term? ROMs

Campaign for World • Lack of progress towards the inscription 2. Hominin Demographies: the Heritage Status for of Creswell Crags as a World Heritage Palaeoecology of Hominin Colonisation selected sites Site despite continued representation and Settlement Processes

Identification of • Since 1999 the discovery of Lynford Smaller scale projects than the essentially ‘global’ flagship sites for (see box) represents the best example of scale of Primary Theme 1 consider the UK as a excavation such a site but long term investigation geographic ‘unit’, albeit one best served by was not possible comparisons (and contrasts) with adjacent ‘units’. Topics that can be investigated under this research Regular exchange of • A number of meetings have occurred theme include the integration of genetic approaches information through over the period concerned, including in to hominin palaeodemography and British identity. day meetings, Jan 2008 a very important QRA/RGS Gordon Brown’s speech at a seminar on Britishness societies, etc Discussion Meeting on the Quaternary in February 2007 recognised only the last 2000 of the British Isles and adjoining seas years of British history, yet the genetics span at least 15,000. Explanation and • C.B. Stringer, Homo Britannicus Specific themes include: population ebb and demystification of the • Time Team has participated in several flow; chronologies of hominin presence including Palaeolithic among Palaeolithic fieldwork projects ‘abandoned Britain’ and insular/peninsular colleagues in the perspectives; geographical routes and barriers to wider profession hominin dispersals; topography and drainage of the English Channel and southern North Sea; Principal Themes taphonomic processes and biases in the survival of archaeological and palaeontological remains; and This revised document continues and develops the issues of data quality and representativeness. existing research themes and recognises the need to Extension of such demographic research into continue strong education and outreach from the adjacent areas, such as France and the Benelux Quaternary community. The Working Group countries, and integration with scholars working in identified four primary research themes: those regions is encouraged. These contacts are being developed, and include collaboration on submarine landscape research. It should be possible, 1. Hominin Environments and Climate for example, to study submerged sites and Drivers landscapes which substantially pre-date the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Large-scale, multi-disciplinary topics drawing on all ™ How did Pleistocene faunal communities change aspects of Quaternary science – e.g. landscape over time, and what was the pattern of human change, sea-level change, river drainage patterns, interaction with and impact on these?

10 Beeches Pit

Beeches Pit in Suffolk has yielded interglacial archaeological remains with some of the oldest evidence of fire use in western Europe. The site has also yielded exceptional environmental evidence dating to MIS 11, the Hoxnian interglacial, including microfauna, macrofauna and mollusc assemblages. Several hand-axes demonstrate that the site belongs within the Acheulean tradition. Traces of burning were found in the 1990s, and during more recent work several hearths were delineated. In one setting a hand-axe was part-knapped, and two flakes out of 30 became burned in an adjacent fire, indicating the highly selective and localised nature of burning. As at Schöningen in Germany, hearths seem to occur near the water’s edge, perhaps peripheral to the main occupations, and they represent repeated events, being found in at least two and perhaps three separate levels. For the same period the site has provided some of the clearest environmental evidence linking the Acheulean with full interglacial occupation. Occupation appears to have continued in periods with both closed and more open vegetation. The fauna includes equids, Hearths in Area AH at Beeches Pit; the raised strip in the red deer, bear and rhinoceros. The mollusc evidence background was raised as a sediment block indicates temperatures higher than in the present.

John Gowlett

™ Did a significant population crash occur over with those on the Continent form specific questions Lower Palaeolithic/Middle Pleistocene time? within the broader theme. ™ What were the biological relationships between British Pleistocene populations and those of ™ What do lithic provenancing studies and trace neighbouring regions? element analyses of organics tell us about ™ Does any British Palaeolithic archaeology suggest settlement systems and land-use strategies? the presence of a complete annual settlement ™ What technical innovations can be observed system? within the British Middle Palaeolithic? ™ Does Late-glacial archaeology indicate any ™ Why were the Neanderthals so successful for so changes in hominin demography or land-use long in British latitudes? What particular patterns? challenges and opportunities did they face in ™ How did the marine transgression after the LGM dealing with the British landscape and climate? create systematic changes in hominin use of the ™ How do we compare enclosed (cave and continental shelf and the coastal zone? rockshelter) and open-site archaeology in terms of settlement systems? ™ When did coastal resources become important to 3. How We Became Human: Social, Palaeolithic hominins? When did fishing or the Cultural and Economic Change collection of shellfish and seafaring begin in and around Britain? Primary archaeological data drive the investigation of ™ Are British examples of the Early Upper the evolving brain, cognitive change and developing Palaeolithic (Aurignacian, Gravettian) indicative aesthetics. Issues such as the development of of very short periods of occupation? technical skills (flintknapping, hunting, fishing and ™ Did the hominin recolonisation of Britain after butchery, art), the emergence of notation, seasonal the Last Glacial Maximum occur before the onset scheduling activities and planning in the landscape, of Late-glacial Interstadial warming? Can data exchange networks and coastal/inland foci, and the from the continental shelf help answer this cultural connectedness of British Palaeolithic groups question?

11 ™ How far does British Late Upper Palaeolithic art English curriculum to teach prehistory (although see reflect Continental themes? Strategic Theme 7 below). There is a danger arising ™ How closely were British Magdalenian from an increasing ‘intelligent design’ presence in populations culturally connected to those of the media and schools. Specialists should explore the Continent? various possibilities for developing and engaging new ™ What is the environmental and behavioural audiences and how ‘pure’ research can be relationship between Late-glacial ‘Long Blade’/late disseminated to curatorial, commercial and amateur Ahrensburgian assemblages and the Early audiences without confusion or patronisation. Mesolithic? ™ What is the public perception of the Pleistocene? ™ How can Palaeolithic archaeology contribute 4. Sharing Human Origins: Developing towards an understanding of the long-term New Audiences evolution of human societies and what it is to be human? The Working Group recognises the importance, ™ How can we engage the public with remote topicality and excitement of the advances in Palaeo- periods without any obvious surviving lithic archaeology and Quaternary science that have ‘monuments’? What should be our strategic been made in recent years and the great potential marketing approach? interest of this to the wider community. However, it ™ How can our understanding of Pleistocene acknowledges the limited success in getting this environmental change inform the current climate across, and the lack of opportunities within the change debate?

Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain terrace have yielded MIS 10/9 ages (c. 360–300,000 BP), with sediment deposition continuing through MIS 8 to This project's new fieldwork has generated the first MIS 6 (c. 190–130,000 BP). Dates from the Exe and partial chronology for river terrace formation in South- Otter Valleys indicate that these rivers’ middle and West England.The oldest dates are for the River Axe, upper terraces (characterised by cold-stage gravels) also where fill-style river gravels underlying the major valley predate MIS 5, with intense reworking of those deposits during the extreme cold of MIS 4 (c. 70–58,000 BP). Clast lithology and fabric analysis also suggested extensive re-working of the Exe and Otter’s upper terrace gravels over the course of the later Middle and Late Pleistocene.

These new data suggest that the palaeogeography of the south-west region may have undergone a major transformation during the late Middle Pleistocene. This has implications for the apparent paucity of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefact finds from the river terrace deposits to the west of the Axe valley, which may in part be due to the extensive re-working of older strath- terrace deposits (in contrast to the fill-terrace deposits of the Axe).

The project’s review of the region's Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeological resource also highlighted a series of findspots and artefacts previously unreported and/or ignored in national syntheses (e.g. the Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project). The project also implemented an outreach and dissemination programme (e.g. Palaeolithic Geoarchaeology Walks), which introduced and highlighted the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeology and Pleistocene fluvial terraces of the region to the wider public. OSL sampling and sediment recording (© Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain Project) Rob Hosfield,Tony Brown, Laura Basell, Phil Toms, Simon Hounsell & Rachel Young

12 ™ When did the British become British? ™ The increasing number of small Upper Palaeo- ™ What is the long-term story about colonisations, lithic open sites coming to light, which have often extinctions and biodiversity? not been subject to palimpsest phenomena, ™ How can we raise the profile and relevance of the should help us understand existing palimpsest resource to the diverse range of stakeholders? assemblages from cave sites and larger open sites.

2. Understanding the record Strategic Research And Some aspects of the record are well understood, the Conservation Themes majority is not. Further research is necessary into the record’s strengths, weaknesses, formation The Working Group also identified eight strategic processes, taphonomy and preservation bias. We research and conservation themes that focus need further elucidation of the value of both primary down into tightly-defined subject areas which cross- and secondary context resources. cut the primary research themes: ™ The use of geomorphological and sediment- ological modelling to understand the taphonomic 1. ‘Areas’ processes that determine the significance of many Palaeolithic remains, e.g. the context of floodplain These could be, for example, marine, sub-glacial or deposits at High Lodge and Pakefield. geographical (the Thames Gateway and Olympics- ™ Developing new methodologies for understanding driven development, the Bytham River, extant river the transformation of behavioural and social systems such as the Trent, Severn and Ouse, etc). signatures into a fluvial archive. The latter would include Upper Palaeolithic research ™ Investigating different landscapes – where are the in river valleys, e.g. the Lea Valley. campsites? ™ Understanding non-flint lithic resources such as ™ How do we research the human occupation of quartzite. These may provide indications of early drowned areas? One example is the collective hominin settlement in regions where flint is effort that has developed in the southern North absent, such as the pre-Anglian Midlands. Sea, where a range of techniques is being applied ™ The Mesolithic site at Bouldnor Cliff in the by British, German, Dutch, Belgian and French Solent is the only known submerged prehistoric archaeologists. This programme includes re- site in the UK where there is sufficient material in analysing petroleum geophysical survey records to situ to study site formation, taphonomy and reconstruct submerged landscapes and river erosion. It should serve as an analogue for any patterns buried in marine sediments; new acoustic Palaeolithic sites that may emerge. Monitoring of surveys to identify local key features; using this site should continue. archived geological cores to reconstruct climate and sea level change in the region of the Brown Bank; retrieving palaeontological and 3. Dating frameworks archaeological items brought to the surface by commercial trawling vessels; and targeted trawling The working group recognises that this is a strategic projects which are designed to recover artefacts research theme of critical importance to Quaternary from known areas of concentrated deposits. studies for the following reasons: ™ A closer focus is required on areas where glaciation has preserved the palaeolandsurface 1) Without a reliable dating control we have only a rather than eroded it. This requires an crude indication of the likely age of a site; understanding of the patterns of glacier-bed 2) Without a reliable and relatively fine-resolution processes and the assessment of localities with the dating control we can have no idea as to how greatest preservational potential. Hydrodynamic quickly important events occurred, e.g. rates of and sedimentary processes also need to be dispersal, duration of occupation, etc; considered, along with modern anthropogenic 3) Without independent dating methods many processes. interpretations of the age and duration of ™ The archaeology of the routes of the preglacial archaeological evidence and the relationship of rivers (e.g. Cromer Forest-bed, Bytham River) this evidence to drivers such as climate are open requires more investigation. to circular and often futile arguments.

13 Middle Pleistocene mammals

As well as providing invaluable evidence for reconstructing the diet and environmental context of early hominins, fossil mammals have proved to be a powerful tool for dating Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites through biostratigraphy. The potential for recognising and correlating discrete climatic episodes is based principally upon the rapid turnover of species through origination and extinction events and on the quantifiable evolutionary trends seen in many lineages, The transition from the ancestral water vole Mimomys arguably the best-known being the mammoth and the savini with rooted teeth (left) to the descendant unrooted water vole successions. In recent years, advances in form Arvicola cantiana (right) is a key element in biostratigraphy have contributed to the British Middle separating Britain's oldest Palaeolithic sites Pleistocene record emerging as one of the most detailed (Photo: D. Schreve) archives of this period anywhere in Europe. For the early Middle Pleistocene, four faunal groups mammalian evidence also indicates the presence of characterised by the presence of an archaic water vole small-scale environmental fluctuations within individual Mimomys savini (including Pakefield, the oldest interglacials, thereby allowing corresponding changes archaeological site in Britain) and two younger groups within the archaeological record to be understood with with its descendant Arvicola cantiana have been greater precision. established. However, correlation of these faunas with the marine oxygen isotope record remains tentative Danielle Schreve since many apparently represent only short fragments of time. In contrast, the British late Middle Pleistocene mammal assemblages indicate the presence of four full interglacials, correlated with Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 11, 9, 7 and 5e. The last of these is distinctive for its complete absence of hominin occupation in Britain. In addition, the

Excavation of a skull of aurochs (Bos primigenius) at the late Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Aveley, Essex (Photo: D. Schreve)

The dating methods currently available to Radiocarbon, by contrast, now enjoys high levels Quaternary science cover very different periods of of precision and reasonable levels of accuracy Pleistocene time and vary considerably in precision suitable for examining the mid- and late Upper and accuracy. Recent discoveries and excavations Pleistocene (MIS 2 and 3), particularly with the occurring under the aegis of the AHOB project have introduction of the ultrafiltration method of sample pushed the dates of the earliest dispersal of humans pre-treatment at Oxford. The same can be said to into Britain to beyond 600,000 BP, which represents apply to U-series over the last c. 300,000 years when the current upper limit of uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates are obtained from favourable materials such as dating, and dating sites in this time range may bone with the latest technology. Improvements in present significant difficulties for thermolum- this technique have widened the range of sites that inescence (TL), optically stimulated luminescence can be dated, but effort needs to be made to develop (OSL) and electron spin resonance (ESR) methods. uranium-protactinium (U-Pa) methods to validate

14 the models of uranium uptake and broaden the means that very careful attention must be paid to applicability of the method. geological and sedimentary context. Depth alone Biostratigraphy and geomorphological methods is an unreliable indicator on which to base are not independent dating methods but constitute correlations. means of correlating sites in comparison to dated artefacts. If, however, they can be correlated with evidence dated by relation to orbitally tuned 4. Curation and conservation timescales then they can possess a very high resolution. Independent dating is essential to validate Strategies are needed for the collation, archiving, ages derived by these methods. Significant long-term protection and preservation of the improvements in this area would include the use of resource. The planning process has been recognised ultrafiltered radiocarbon, and U-Th dating of in situ elsewhere as an important tool for the curation and flowstones from key caves. conservation of the Palaeolithic archaeological resource. The Working Group recognises that despite ™ Consideration of the potential of cosmogenic increasing understanding and awareness within local burial dating, especially relevant for the evidence authority services of the potential for Palaeolithic of early human settlement. Cosmogenic archaeology, following the English Rivers Palaeolithic radionuclide dating has immense potential for Survey and the Welsh Lower Palaeolithic Survey, dating the early parts of the British Lower there remains a lack of specialist knowledge of the Palaeolithic, as the period falls within the median Palaeolithic amongst local authority archaeological part of the chronological range, but much curators and decision-makers in land development experimentation is rquired to validate this method (see Strategic Theme 6). Areas of impact outside the for archaeological studies. planning system (or any regulatory framework), such ™ Consideration should be given to the further as agriculture or coastal erosion, may also have development of dating methods to confirm the significant impacts on the resource but are more chronology of very early sites pertinent to the difficult to recognise and manage. earliest hominin dispersal into Britain, such as work on AAR of shells and micro-tephra studies. ™ Recognition of the potential impact of develop- The limitations of OSL at this range should be ment and other land-use change in order to explored. OSL and AAR have established their protect and conserve the diminishing Palaeolithic potential for determining ages with errors in the resource. The process of informing decision- order of ±20,000–50,000 years back to c. 500,000 makers within local authorities of this potential BP, but beyond this precision is poorer and must continue. Local authority planning reliable accuracy still needs to be tested by archaeologists are in an appropriate position to do experimentation. this but need to be better informed themselves ™ Use of new OSL and AAR methodologies to about the potential of deposits they often regard refine the age of the earliest human settlement of as ‘archaeologically sterile’. Regional or county- Britain. based Sites and Monuments Records/Historic ™ Use of OSL and AAR to further investigate Environments Records are fundamental to the periods in which human populations appear to planning process, yet are only as good as the have collapsed, e.g. MIS 7. information put into them. There is clearly a role ™ Establishing and independently testing Middle for Palaeolithic specialists here. Most SMR/HERs and Upper Pleistocene faunal biostratigraphies. now have, or are developing, digital data within ™ Wider use of radiocarbon for the dating of Late- standardised databases linked to Geographical glacial fauna and archaeology; assessment of the Information Systems, which provide appropriate climatic and environmental context of the human contexts for liaison between Palaeolithic specialists resettlement of Britain after the LGM; and and local authorities. understanding Late Upper Palaeolithic groups in ™ Liaison between Palaeolithic specialists and local the context of wider ecological variability. authority curators should provide sound academic ™ Unravelling of ages around the Last Glacial– justification for why archaeological investigation Interglacial Transition where isotopic flux is should be funded by developers. Information and complex and variable. support is required to justify the archaeological ™ DNA studies and dating could be carried out evaluation of areas of as-yet undefined Palaeolithic effectively on older marine samples than from potential. land at the same latitude, due to the low stable ™ Joined-up strategic approaches between national temperature of seabed deposits. There is excellent agencies, in particular Natural England and potential to build up a very strong framework, but English Heritage. the post-glacial isostatic tilting of the topography

15 ™ Development of strategies for dealing with natural 6. Professional Training erosion and other processes occurring outside the planning system. There is a need to develop mechanisms to ensure ™ Predictive modelling and sensitivity assessments of that curatorial and commercial personnel are aware the resource. of the importance of the Palaeolithic and the ™ Use of dating as an independent test of the age of research themes identified here, and that they are sites to inform conservation strategies (radio- appropriately included in curatorial responses to carbon has revolutionised this, for example). proposed development and in subsequent mitigation ™ Publication of databases of known sites and map- work. This could potentially be delivered through based locations of findspots of sites and chance organisations such as the IFA. finds of Palaeolithic age. ™ Enormous quantities of Pleistocene ™ Building a larger community of Palaeolithic and palaeontological material and a number of Quaternary specialists needs to continue and can Palaeolithic artefacts are trawled up by fishing be achieved through participation in inter- vessels every year from the North Sea. The disciplinary projects and closer integration sorting, assessment and conservation of selected between subject societies and interest groups. items is a complex matter with many interested ™ The next generation of researchers needs to be parties involved. Many items and records are in further supported through the expansion of private hands. Collaboration between British and Research Council-funded Masters programmes Dutch officials should continue, to try and ensure that have an interdisciplinary curriculum and a that essential information is preserved and commitment to 1 plus 3 funding for higher accessible for research. degrees. ™ Community engagement and promotion of a ™ Reduction of the knowledge gap between sense of place to foster conservation aims through Palaeolithic specialists and local authority increased awareness and understanding among archaeological curators. Unless this potential is local communities. realised, opportunities within the planning process ™ Innovative displays and interpretation. for conserving and, where appropriate, investi- gating deposits with the potential for survival of significant Palaeolithic remains will not arise. 5. Dealing with Development ™ Raising awareness among relevant personnel about the archaeological potential of the marine There is a need to promote ‘developer-friendly’ zone. approaches to all types of development (including but not confined to quarrying) with an impact on Palaeolithic/Pleistocene resources, exemplifying this 7. Education through best practice, and establishing the appro- priate scale (local, regional, national) for future The role of academics is critical to public outreach. relationships. In the offshore sector the existence of University chancellors are keen to promote the ALSF has been an enormous help, and this has collaboration between universities and museums in both supported a range of projects and enhanced co- this endeavour, although at present British univer- operation with the dredging industry. The British sities do not sufficiently value the contribution of Marine Aggregates Producers’ Association has their academic staff to this enterprise. The positive worked with English Heritage and Wessex benefits of this must be raised within the academic Archaeology to produce codes of conduct and community and issues such as the incorporation of procedures. public dissemination into the academic timetable resolved. Only by doing so can we create engaging ™ Palaeolithic archaeology and palaeoenvironmental outputs. The role of enterprise, particularly in science need quarry development, and the collaboration with regional institutions and business, working group emphasises that the relationship is keenly promoted at universities, where it is between quarry owners/workers and increasingly being incorporated into academic archaeologists should be regarded as positive, training and research. In addition, academic staff supportive and mutually dependent. We should who hold trustee membership on museum boards overcome the stigma around archaeologists caused provide a further opportunity to strengthen the link by the fieldwork process, such as concerns about between universities and public outreach. The restrictions on development, the costs of fieldwork Quaternary community should consider how this and the perceived trivial nature of the science can benefit outreach. associated with this. Working in collaboration with The role of curators is equally important in terms geologists would be one way to go about this. of helping to broker the relationship between the

16 Lynford Quarry

In February 2002, a palaeochannel filled c. 1-1.5 m deep with fine-grained organic deposits and containing Mousterian artefacts and mammalian fauna was exposed by quarrying at Lynford Quarry, Norfolk (TL 823 948). Subsequent excavations by Norfolk Archaeology Unit under the auspices of English Heritage (ALSF) yielded over 2000 lithic artefacts, 17 species of vertebrate fauna, pollen, insects, molluscs and plant macrofossils. The excavations and palaeobiological remains revealed that the site was part of a meander cut-off loop of the Pleistocene Wissey with still or very slow water, which flowed through a predominantly open landscape of grassland, acid heath and bare ground, and perhaps small copses of trees. AMS radiocarbon and OSL dates have indicated that the site dates to c. 60,000 BP (the beginning of MIS 3) and temperature estimates reveal a much cooler climate than present with mean July temperature ≤13°C and the mean temperatures for the coldest months below -10°C. The presence of dung beetles demonstrates that the large herbivores present used the site as a watering hole, while carrion beetles indicate some died there. As ever, whether Neanderthals actually hunted the elephants or scavenged dead or dying animals is a moot point, but the stone tools do indicate that Neanderthals were using a curated toolkit that was carried around the landscape to exploit these mobile resources.

Mark White academic community and the public, for example by evolution, the antiquity of the Earth and the concept focussing the results of academic research in relation of Palaeolithic life are wrong. This should provide a to what is of interest to a local audience. high-profile opportunity for Palaeolithic The Working Group recognises that Palaeolithic archaeologists to engage in debate over the archaeology is a subject of perennial interest to mechanisms of change in Earth history, particularly schoolchildren and encourages collaboration with if positive engagements are made and suitable teachers and museum education officers to develop materials are presented to teachers. While intelligent challenging lessons using British materials to raise its design perspectives do not usually question profile among the young. Palaeolithic archaeology scientifically-accepted models of the age of the Earth currently features in the Welsh national curriculum, they often question the relevance of Darwinian and although it is absent from the English, there is evolution by natural selection. Palaeolithic sufficient flexibility to allow for its integration. The archaeologists should forward a strong argument for 2003 APPAG report on the state of British archae- the relevance of Pleistocene faunas to the support of ology included a recommendation to ‘incorporate evolution by natural selection. prehistory, including the Palaeolithic, in school The Working Group recognises the importance of curriculum’. In addition, the multidisciplinary existing media, such as Time Team, and new media approach to the Quaternary presents many ways in for promoting public awareness of the Pleistocene. to the curriculum. The onus is upon the Palaeolithic The potential of television, websites, CDs and community to ensure this happens. podcasts, particularly with virtual reconstructions, is The alarming increase in the presence of obvious. Palaeolithic archaeology should be creationist materials in schools is an issue of incorporated into increasing use of web-based, concern. A growing number of proponents of inquiry-based learning at universities, and religious perspectives on human origins and Earth meaningful relationships between academics and history have arisen, including ‘intelligent design’ museums should exploit such technologies for both perspectives and more fundamentalist views that research and outreach.

17 Cave art and new excavations at Creswell Crags The 2007 season excavation trench outside Church Hole, Creswell (Photo: Paul Pettitt) The caves of Creswell Crags, which straddles the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border, have constituted Britain’s primary Upper Palaeolithic resource since early the Palaeolithic, as it was cleared of its extensive excavations effectively emptied them of their contents. deposits in around 30 days in 1876. The sparse records Pin Hole, Robin Hood Cave, Mother Grundy’s Parlour of the early excavations suggest that it was not as and Church Hole have yielded evidence of Neanderthal extensively used as caves on the other side of the gorge. occupation, extensive hyaena denning and Late Upper New excavations aimed at clarifying this picture were Palaeolithic (Magdalenian) occupation. The importance commenced in 2006 immediately outside the cave, and of the gorge was furthered in 2003 with the discovery of are ongoing. These have revealed the rich amount of Britain's first examples of Palaeolithic cave art. Around faunal remains and lithics thrown into the spoil heap. As one dozen engravings depict figurative themes (a cervid, all other collections of Creswell fauna are highly a bovid, an equid and a bird) and more enigmatic conserved these newly recovered specimens will be used images which may represent highly stylised human to create an Upper Pleistocene biostratigraphy of the females. Content, style and independent age verification site through radiocarbon dating. Recovery of lithic by U-series dating of stalactites overlying three of the debitage is beginning to suggest that the cave was used images suggest the art can be associated with the as a camp too. Identification of in situ deposits promises Magdalenian occupation of the gorge. a rich archaeology that may dramatically improve our understanding of the British Upper Palaeolithic. Although Church Hole contains almost all the images, we understand very little about the use of this cave in Paul Pettitt

™ To encourage and develop links with local schools mathematics. This requires practical actions, i.e. and educational facilities in ways that emphasise school visits and the creation of resources for the cross-curricular nature of the Palaeolithic teachers. Recent examples of schools outreach, record and its relevance to teaching in areas such as that undertaken as part of the ALSF- beyond history e.g. geography, music, funded Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain

18 project, have demonstrated how feedback from Major research projects undertaken under the schools can often be slow, because of the great aegis of the research themes identified here can unite pressure on teachers’ time, and more effective otherwise disparate collections of material. The communication needs to be established. AHOB Project has provided considerable synergy ™ Partnerships are crucial for making the most of between the Natural History Museum and the available resources to deliver public outreach. British Museum, while ongoing work on the Middle Local authority archaeology and broader Historic and Upper Palaeolithic archaeology of Creswell Environment Services are already developing and Crags is uniting materials from a number of British delivering archaeological outreach that is engaging museums. The development of links between the the public in many ways (e.g. the Heritage major national museums and regional museums can Gateway: www.heritagegateway.org.uk). There are arise out of such projects, while touring exhibitions, opportunities to further engage the work of such as the British Museum’s Made in Africa, academics and museums with community-based provide one way to progress this. projects aimed at geographical and special-interest The provision for a new museum and education groups which may or may not be concerned only centre at Creswell Crags will considerably improve with Quaternary and Palaeolithic studies. One its potential for raising public awareness of the example of a project in preparation is The Towy: A Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and should achieve River Through Time (Cambria Archaeology, its goal of targeting new audiences. Creswell’s strong Lampeter and Aberystwyth Universities), an partnership with national and regional museums, integrated landscape investigation which will where the bulk of the collections from Creswell are involve the community at all stages of the project. stored, will provide the opportunity to enhance the ™ At present there is little public education about displays once appropriate security and the Palaeolithic potential of the marine environmental controls are in place within the environment. This could be built into wider proposed Centre. In particular the enhanced period-specific outreach. facilities will enable compliance under the UK ™ Partnerships with education and training indemnity scheme and the loan of collections from providers and initiatives including Creative partners such as the British Museum. Partnerships should be forged. The purchase of Quarry Q1B at Boxgrove will, it is hoped, provide for the development of a Palaeolithic field school through University College 8. Collections and Records Enhancement London. An attached museum and education centre would be desirable, especially as this would raise English and Welsh museums curate a wealth of general public awareness of the Lower Palaeolithic. material and form a resource of global significance. At the time of writing, negotiations about the future Presentation to the public, however, is poor, both in of the site are ongoing. absolute terms and relative to the later prehistoric There is a case for a major development and historic periods. Although the display of equivalent to the Eden Centre based at somewhere artefacts is about public engagement with and like Cromer to focus on Palaeolithic archaeology, the interpretation of the past and is not necessarily Pleistocene, and Quaternary Science. This should be dependent on the number of immediately accessible the flagship for the subject and a wealth generator – objects, it is notable that, for example, the British just as the Eden Centre is the largest wealth Museum has only eight Lower Palaeolithic objects – generator in Cornwall. seven bifaces and a chopper – on display for public The Working Group recognises that museums are view, while few Welsh museums display Palaeolithic under increasing pressure to justify the housing costs material. The Working Group welcomes the new of their Palaeolithic collections and archives; clearly, gallery at National Museum Wales displaying funding is required. Only by raising the profile of prehistoric finds from Wales, including some from Palaeolithic archaeology can requests for such the work of Stephen Aldhouse-Green, which should funding compete with those relating to other help raise public awareness of the Palaeolithic. The periods, particularly historical. In such a way the significance of museum displays is critical to the growing agenda to dispose of unused collections reporting and recognition of new archaeological could be combated at regional and national level. discoveries through services such as the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). As public awareness is ™ Access to collections by Palaeolithic specialists is raised, recognition of the significance of Palaeolithic critical here. We need to demonstrate that ongoing finds will increase, including those from areas not research into collections is mutually beneficial, not traditionally thought to have a strong Palaeolithic an inconvenience. archive.

19 Launde

A small camp-site at Launde, in the east Leicestershire Uplands, joins about 30 other English sites of later Upper Palaeolithic ‘long blade’ type. Limited dating suggests that ‘long blade’ sites straddle the Pleistocene– Holocene boundary around 10,000 radiocarbon years BP. In total some 3500 in situ flints were recovered from a circular scatter of 5 m diameter. In addition to typo- technological analysis the assemblage was subject to exhaustive spatial analysis in an attempt to define the structure and dynamics of the occupation.

Much of the material had been burnt in antiquity and when plotted showed that the knapping of blades and bladelets was undertaken around a central hearth structure. Immediately adjacent to the hearth were several obliquely truncated points, almost certainly projectile heads from arrows. Some of the points have impact fractures, suggesting that hearth-side activity included re-tooling of arrowshafts. The manufacture of replacement projectile points can be inferred from the high frequency of bladelets, some apparently snapped intentionally to form blanks for point manufacture. A few other tools were found around the hearth area, including several broken blades with rubbed ends, some with additional retouch to aid handling. The gross wear patterns suggest a back-and-forward motion in their Flints being located by hand cleaning at Launde use, similar to the graving function of burins. It is feasible that these tools were also related to the preparing arrow shafts for hafting or fletching. Several maintenance of hunting equipment, perhaps for scrapers were found beyond the hearth area, indicating hide processing or wood working in other activity areas.

Due to a paucity of formal tools it has been notoriously difficult to assign British long blade sites to the known Late Glacial cultures of the European mainland. However, Launde and another long blade site, Three Ways Wharf, Uxbridge, have produced notable groups of projectile points. Both sites have obliquely truncated points with distinctive marked concavity of the truncation at the tip. Remarkable parallels are seen with several sites from France, Holland and Belgium, termed the Epi-Ahrensbergian, strongly suggesting that they may be directly related, possibly even the same individuals operating across a wide social and hunting territory. A selection of blades from Launde, including several long blades Lynden Cooper

™ Updating Roe’s (1968) gazetteer to ascertain what number of neglected Palaeolithic collections in museums have; what has been added, lost and British museums, and attention can be drawn to moved since the 1960s. What is the provision for these through directed student dissertations and access to materials in museums? practical projects. The value of ‘dormant’ museum ™ Enhancement of records of known collections in collections and private collections can be public and private hands, through new analysis exploited by assessing what is where and its and publication of archives. There are a large research and display potential, and ensuring that

20 Palaeolithic/Pleistocene collections are retained, ™ Furthering public outreach through the National maintained and valued. Curriculum, museums, and new media ™ Providing access to information about collections opportunities. through more web-based databases. ™ Archive enhancement of known collections through programmes of radiocarbon dating of Acknowledgements fauna and humanly-modified bone. ™ Continuation of assessment and recording of the The working group acknowledges the assistance of marine Palaeolithic resource. There is a sparse Jenni Chambers and Barbara Silva and helpful distribution of marine palaeontological material in comments and suggestions from Lynden Cooper, British museums gathered from North Sea Anne Graf, Terry Hardaker, Jon Humble, Vernon trawlers during the last 100 years, and most of it Marks, Alistair Pike, Mark Roberts and Ingrid Ward. is available for study. In the Netherlands huge Production of this document has been funded with a quantities of Pleistocene palaeontological material grant from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund are landed by Dutch trawlers, though much of through Defra and English Heritage and it was this comes from UK, German, and Danish waters. designed and produced by Julie Gardiner. Dutch and UK experts are working together to improve the data logging and identification of key archaeological items in private collections. In the References Solent fishermen have been trawling up flint artefacts for many decades and several private Aldhouse-Green, S. (ed.) 2000. Paviland Cave and the ‘Red collections are logged and known to the local Lady’: A Definitive Report. Bristol: Western Academic authorities. and Specialist Press. ™ Development of a subject-specialist forum of Aldhouse-Green, S. 2001. Ex Africa aliquid semper novi: the curators whose principal aim is to network and view from Pontnewydd. In Milliken, S. and Cook, J. share knowledge about collections under their (eds) A Very Remote Period Indeed: Papers on the care (also relevant to Strategic Theme 6). Palaeolithic Presented to Derek Roe. Oxford: Oxbow, 114–19. Aldhouse-Green, S., Peterson, R. and Walker, E. in prep. Summary Pontnewydd and the Elwy Valley Caves. Oxford: Oxbow. Ashton, N.M. and Lewis, S.G. 2002. Deserted Britain: Palaeolithic research is vibrant in Britain. A number declining populations in the British late Middle of themes identified in the 1999 research frameworks Pleistocene. Antiquity 76, 388–96. document have been pursued and developed. We Ashton, N.M., Lewis, S.G. and Parfitt, S.A. 2003. Hoxne. have identified areas here which remain to be Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and investigated and which would benefit from further History 60, 359–61. attention. We note in particular the need for Ashton, N., Lewis, S., Parfitt, S., Candy, C., Keen, D., Palaeolithic archaeologists to work in collaboration Kemp, R., Penkman, K.E.H., Thomas, G., Whittaker, with other Quaternary specialists to capitalise on J. and White, M. 2005. Excavations at the Lower multi-disciplinary strengths. We also note the Palaeolithic site at Elveden, Suffolk, UK. Proceedings of particular need for ongoing research in the following the Prehistoric Society 71, 1–61. areas: Ashton, N., Lewis, S., Parfitt, S. and White, M. 2006. Riparian landscapes and human habitat preferences ™ Furthering our understanding of the Middle and during the Hoxnian (MIS 11) interglacial. Journal of Upper Pleistocene human settlement of Britain in Quaternary Science 21(5), 497–505. climatic and environmental context. Bahn, P. and Pettitt, P.B. In press a. The Ice Age Cave Art of ™ Improvement in our understanding of the Creswell Crags: Britain’s Oldest Art. London: English formation and chronology of the British Heritage. Pleistocene record. Bahn, P. and Pettitt, P.B. In press b. The search for cave ™ Recognition and investigation of the importance art elsewhere in England. In Bahn and Pettitt in press of the Pleistocene record of the offshore zone. a. ™ Dating is critical to all of our endeavours in Barton, R.N.E. 1999. Colonisation and resettlement of Palaeolithic archaeology.We must continue to Europe in the Late Glacial: a view from the western promote initiatives for improving dating periphery. Folia Quaternaria 70, 71–86. methodology and thus reliability, accuracy and Barton, R.N.E., Jacobi, R.M., Stapert, D. and Street, M.J. precision. 2003. The Late-Glacial reoccupation of the British

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23 method in north-west Europe. Current Anthropology 44, The Working Group 598–609. White, M.J. and Jacobi, R.M. 2002. Two sides to every Prof. Stephen Aldhouse-Green (University of Wales, story: bout coupé handaxes revisited. Oxford Journal of Newport) Archaeology 21, 109–33. Dr Nick Ashton (British Museum and Ancient Human White, M.J. and Plunkett, S. 2005. Miss Layard Excavates: Occupation of Britain Project) the Palaeolithic Site at Foxhall Road, Ipswich, 1903–1905. Ms. Louise Austin (Cambria Archaeology; Association of Bristol: Western Academic and Specialist Press. Local Government Archaeological Officers White, M.J. and Schreve, D.C. 2000. Island Britain – representative) Peninsular Britain: palaeogeography, colonisation, and Prof. Nick Barton (University of Oxford) the Lower Palaeolithic settlement of the British Isles. Dr Natalie Bennett (Natural England) Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 66, 1–28. Dr David Bridgland (University of Durham) White, M.J., Scott, B. and Ashton, N. 2006. The Early Mr Simon Buteux (University of Birmingham and Middle Palaeolithic period in Britain: archaeology, National Ice Age Network; secretary to Working settlement history and human behaviour. Journal of Group; IFA representative) Quaternary Science 21(5), 525–42. Dr Jill Cook (British Museum) Wymer, J. 1999. The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Dr Nic Flemming (University of Southampton, National Britain, Salisbury: Wessex Archaeology. Oceanographic Centre) Wymer, J. 2001. Palaeoliths in a lost pre-Anglian Prof. Clive Gamble (Royal Holloway, University of landscape. In Milliken, S. and Cook, J. (eds) A Very London; co-editor) Remote Period Indeed: Papers on the Palaeolithic Presented Prof. John Gowlett (University of Liverpool) to Derek Roe. Oxford: Oxbow, 174–9. Dr Rob Hosfield (University of Reading; Prehistoric Young, T. 2000. The Paviland ochres: characterisation and Society representative) sourcing. In Aldhouse-Green, S. (ed.) 2000, 205–26. Mr Gwilym Hughes (Cambria Archaeology) Dr Roger Jacobi (British Museum and Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project) Dr Jonathan Last (English Heritage; co-editor) Dr Simon Lewis (Queen Mary’s College, University of London; Quaternary Research Association representative) Dr John McNabb (University of Southampton and National Ice Age Network) Dr Nicky Milner (University of York; Mesolithic representative) Dr Simon Parfitt (Natural History Museum) Dr Paul Pettitt (University of Sheffield; convenor and co- editor) Dr Matt Pope (University College London) Prof. Jim Rose (Royal Holloway, University of London and Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project; Geologists’ Association representative) Dr Danielle Schreve (Royal Holloway, University of London; Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project; and National Ice Age Network) Miss Elizabeth Walker (Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales; Society of Museum Archaeologists representative) Mr Ian Wall (Creswell Crags Museum and Education Centre) Dr Francis Wenban-Smith (University of Southampton; Lithic Studies Society representative) Dr Mark J White (University of Durham)

Editors

Paul Pettitt, Clive Gamble & Jonathan Last

24

Front cover: Construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and Ebbsfleet International Station through the Ebbsfleet Valley led to major Palaeolithic excavations; in one spot an undisturbed elephant butchery site was found 15 feet below the ground surface, and a range of material recovered, including Clactonian flakes and cores around the elephant, and flint handaxes in the deep sequence of overlying deposits [photos © LCR/CTRL project, Francis Wenban-Smith and Gill Robertson, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton; reproduced with kind permission]

Back cover:The late John Wymer, pictured (above) at Swanscombe, Kent, in 1982, demonstrating the conjoining of the early human skull fragments on the site of the 1935 discovery, and (below) at Pakefield, Suffolk, site of the earliest currently known evidence for the human occupation of Britain. [Reproduced with permission]