Handaxe and non‐handaxe assemblages during Marine Isotope Stage 11 in northern Europe: recent investigations at Barnham, Suffolk, UK

Abstract

Britain has an important geological, environmental and archaeological record for Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11), which makes a major contribution to understanding of the human occupation of northern Europe. New fieldwork at Barnham, Suffolk, UK, has identified through improved geological resolution the change in assemblages from simple core and flake working to those with handaxe technology. The two assemblages are argued to reflect distinct human populations from different source areas in Europe. The paper examines the European record and puts forward a new model of how the complex mosaic of lithic assemblages reflects local, habitual practices during stable environments, but changes in climate and environment led to larger scale shifts in population, resulting in new human groups arriving in Britain.

Aspects of human physical and behavioural evolution during the last 1 million years

“…Such markers include the twisted ovates of Britain in MIS 11, representing a distinct lithic tradition from the continent (White, ), or the presence of distinct flake and core assemblages (e.g. the Clactonian) appearing within the same MIS 11 interglacial landscapes as Acheulean handaxe makers (McNabb, ; Wenban‐Smith, , ; White, , ; Wenban‐Smith et al , ; Ashton et al , ). The deep time and often palimpsestual and secondary context nature of these older assemblages make it difficult for researchers to get to grips with the subtleties of the behavioural record and it is not clear whether these local variations reflect cultural diversity within a single species or distinct behaviours across hominin species.…”

Less of a bird's song than a hard rock ensemble

“…We argue not because one of us (JM) has previously noted that while raw material constraints sometimes influenced technological choices at these European sites (e.g., Bilzingsleben and Vérteszöllös), critically, this was not always apparent (e.g., at Arago). Instead other factors, such as site type, length of occupation, range of activities, patterns of social learning, and distinct hominin populations and their mobility are more likely to explain at least some of these patterns.…”

“…However, and in combination with increasing isotopic insights into animal migration data, these data highlight the potential for hunter‐gatherers, and their material knowledge and practices, to move substantial distances over years rather than decades or centuries. Such larger‐scale shifts in population might occur in response to changes in climate and environment, as recently argued for the Clactonian/Acheulean patterns in Britain during MIS 11 …”

“…Instead other factors, such as site type, length of occupation, range of activities, patterns of social learning, and distinct hominin populations and their mobility 80 are more likely to explain at least some of these patterns.…”

Russia–UK Collaboration in Paleontology: Past, Present, and Future

“…This supported the idea that there must have been separate populations with different lithic traditions (Wenban- Smith et al 2006). This view has been reinforced by a repetition of the same Clactonian-Acheulian sequence at the MIS 11 site of Barnham in Suffolk (Ashton et al 2016). …”