Flake tools in the European Lower Paleolithic: A case study from MIS 9 Britain

Rawlinson, A.; Dale, Luke; Ashton, Nick; Bridgland, David R.; White, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103153

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 110 publications

(137 reference statements)

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“…Evidence from the Thames terraces is critical to the recognition of the archaeological and paleoenvironmental context of this interglacial stage, informally named the 'Purfleet Interglacial' (Bridgland et al, 2013). In Britain, MIS 9 also corresponds to a dynamic phase in the history of human occupation with the successive replacement of a non-handaxe, core-and-flake (Mode 1) industry by an Acheulean handaxe industry (Mode 2) and later by the first appearance of an early Levalloisian (Mode 3) technology; these successive lithic industries occurred over a period spanning perhaps no more than 50,000 years from the end of MIS 10 to the early part of MIS 8 (Rawlinson, 2021;Rawlinson et al, 2022;White & Ashton, 2003;White et al, 2011). have suggested that these represent different occupation phases, likely the result of different waves of colonisation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Middle Pleistocene Butchery Site at Great Yeldham, Essex, UK: Identifying Butchery Strategies and Implications for Mammalian Faunal History

Parfitt

2022

J Paleo Arch

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This paper discusses the evidence relating to an assemblage of Pleistocene bones and teeth discovered in a brick pit at Great Yeldham, Essex, in the late nineteenth century. Surviving elements from this collection, which include a bison foot bone with cut-marks, are now in the British Geological Survey Museum, Keyworth. A re-examination of this collection suggests that humans were present at the site during a temperate period in the earlier part of the late Middle Pleistocene. The cut-marks suggest that the hind foot was detached and discarded as butchery waste at the death site. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of humanly modified bones for understanding aspects of early human behaviour and distribution in Britain, which have hitherto largely centred around the study of stone tools.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Middle Pleistocene Butchery Site at Great Yeldham, Essex, UK: Identifying Butchery Strategies and Implications for Mammalian Faunal History

Parfitt

2022

J Paleo Arch

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“…Our data show that they became more prevalent in Britain just prior to the Lower–Middle Palaeolithic transition (~300–250kya). This period in Britain has already been established as a period of increasing archaeological complexity, with the regional picture showing a succession of stone tool industries that starts with a non-handaxe phase, followed by the appearance of handaxes and then a final phase in which apparently hierarchical core working (also known as proto-Levallois) becomes more prolific (Bridgland et al 2013; Bolton 2015; White & Bridgland 2017; Rawlinson 2021; Rawlinson et al 2022). The attribution of giant handaxes to MIS 9 adds to this complexity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Big enough to matter: on the frequency and chronology of giant handaxes in the British Lower Palaeolithic

Dale,

Rawlinson,

Knowles

et al. 2024

Antiquity

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Hypertrophic ‘giant’ handaxes are a rare component of Acheulean assemblages, yet have been central to debates relating to the social, cognitive and cultural ‘meaning’ of these enigmatic tools. The authors examine giant handaxes from the perspective of the British record and suggest that they are chronologically patterned, with the great majority originating from contexts broadly associated with Marine Isotope Stage 9. Giant handaxes tend to have higher symmetry than non-giants, and extravagant forms, such as ficrons, are better represented; they may therefore be linked to incipient aesthetic sensibilities and, potentially, to changing cognition at the transition between the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic.

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“…Where context is less clear, there is often a distinction in condition between Levallois material and any handaxes from the same set of deposits. The exception is Botany Pit, Purfleet, where ‘Proto Levallois’ artefacts were recovered with several handaxes from deposits correlated with late MIS 9/early MIS 8 (Schreve et al, 2002; White & Ashton, 2003; Bridgland et al, 2013; Rawlinson et al, 2021). The EMP record is much more limited outside the Thames valley (Ashton et al, 2018) but, where contextual and/or dating information is available, it conforms to the patterning of the Thames record (Scott, 2011; Davis et al, 2016, 2021b; Rawlinson et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the southern North Sea Basin: evidence from the Sandscaping sediments emplaced on the beach between Bacton and Walcott, Norfolk, UK

Davis

Ashton

Bynoe

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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During the summer of 2019, the Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme involved the emplacement on to the foreshore of 1.8 million cubic metres of sand and gravel dredged from the submerged sediments of the Palaeo‐Yare in the southern North Sea 11 km off Great Yarmouth. During the following 2‐year period, an active group of collectors identified Palaeolithic artefacts eroding from these sediments, including Levallois cores and flakes, and cordiform handaxes. In this paper, we present an analysis of the lithic artefacts, and consider the relationships between the different elements of the assemblage. We discuss its significance in the context of the Middle Palaeolithic record of northwest Europe and the light it shines on the human occupation of the submerged landscape of the southern North Sea during the later Middle Pleistocene. Interrogation of beach survey data shows the reworking of these sediments to the southeast towards Happisburgh where archaeologically significant exposures of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation are located. The implications of the introduction of a Middle Palaeolithic assemblage to this stretch of the North Norfolk Coast are considered, highlighting the importance of continuing dialogue between researchers, local authorities and local communities for capturing information and monitoring this critical Palaeolithic resource.

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Flake tools in the European Lower Paleolithic: A case study from MIS 9 Britain

Cited by 6 publications

References 110 publications

A Middle Pleistocene Butchery Site at Great Yeldham, Essex, UK: Identifying Butchery Strategies and Implications for Mammalian Faunal History

A Middle Pleistocene Butchery Site at Great Yeldham, Essex, UK: Identifying Butchery Strategies and Implications for Mammalian Faunal History

Big enough to matter: on the frequency and chronology of giant handaxes in the British Lower Palaeolithic

Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the southern North Sea Basin: evidence from the Sandscaping sediments emplaced on the beach between Bacton and Walcott, Norfolk, UK

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