Reply: Middle Pleistocene sedimentation at Pakefield, Suffolk, England

Lee, Jonathan R.; Rose, James; Candy, Ian; Barendregt, René W.; Moorlock, B.S.P.; Riding, James B.; Hamblin, R.J.O.

doi:10.1002/jqs.1140

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, precisely how these continental sequences relate to the marine isotope record is also a matter of considerable debate (e.g. Meijer et al, 2006;Lee et al, 2004aLee et al, , 2006Lee et al, , 2008Gibbard et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk, UK

Preece

Parfitt

Coope³

et al. 2009

J Quaternary Science

107

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Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north-western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the 'Sidestrand Unio-bed', here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest-bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio-bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the 'Cromerian Complex' and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial -probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the 'new glacial stratigraphy' during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk, UK

Preece

Parfitt

Coope³

et al. 2009

J Quaternary Science

107

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“…East Anglia has been a key focus in recent explorations of Britain's pre-MIS 12 archaeology, with the re-investigations of High Lodge and the new fieldwork at Pakefield Parfitt, 2008) and Happisburgh (Ashton et al, 2008), combined with various studies of the Bytham terraces and the region's glacial deposits (Lewis, 1998;Lewis et al, 1999;Rose et al, 1999bRose et al, , 2001Lee et al, 2004aLee et al, , 2006aHamblin et al, 2005;Read et al, 2007;Gibbard et al, 2008;Pawley et al, 2008;Rose, 2009;Preece et al, 2009;Gibbard et al, 2009;Westaway, 2009). Central to the resolution of the ages of much of East Anglia's early Middle Pleistocene archaeology has been the recent debates between two models addressing the region's glacial history and stratigraphy: the 'new glacial stratigraphy' model (Hamblin et al, 2000;Lee et al, 2004aLee et al, , 2004bLee et al, , 2006aLee et al, , 2008aHamblin et al, 2005;Rose, 2009), and the 'biostratigraphic age' model (Preece, 2001;Stuart and Lister, 2001;Preece and Parfitt, 2008;Preece et al, 2009). The principal supporting evidence for the alternative models, which have major implications not only for the age of the Happisburgh 1 and Pakefield archaeology (Sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.1) but also for the artefact assemblages associated with Bytham River deposits inland from the coast (Section 2.1.2), is presented in Table 2 (see the above references and papers within Lewis et al, 2000 andCandy et al, 2008 for a full discussion of these issues).…”

Section: East Angliamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The significance of Lee et al's (2006a) Gibbard et al (2008) have strongly criticised this interpretation of the upper part of the Pakefield sequence, and argue that all of the sediments above the Cromer Forest-bed Formation represent glaciofluvial deposition of MIS 12 age, with no evidence for the marine and non-glacial sediments of Lee et al (2006a), and therefore no evidence for a pre-MIS 12 East Anglian glaciation (but see also the response of Lee et al, 2008a; Table 3). The post-Cromer Forest-bed Formation portion of the Pakefield sequence therefore has implications for the age of the Happisburgh 1 archaeology as well as that of Pakefield itself.…”

Section: Pakefieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

The British Lower Palaeolithic of the early Middle Pleistocene

Hosfield

2011

Quaternary Science Reviews

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The archaeology of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene is represented by a number of key sites across eastern and southern England. These sites include Pakefield, Happisburgh 1, High Lodge, Warren Hill, Waverley Wood, Boxgrove, Kent's Cavern, and Westburysub-Mendip, alongside a 'background scatter' lithic record associated with the principal river systems (Bytham, pre-diversion Thames, and Solent) and raised beaches (Westbourne-Arundel). Hominin behaviour can be characterised in terms of: preferences for temperate or cool temperate climates and open/woodland mosaic habitats (indicated by mammalian fauna, mollusca, insects, and sediments); a biface-dominated material culture characterised by technological diversity, although with accompanying evidence for distinctive core and flake (Pakefield) and flake tool (High Lodge) assemblages; probable direct hunting-based subsistence strategies (with a focus upon large mammal fauna); and generally locally-focused spatial and landscape behaviours (principally indicated by raw material sources data), although with some evidence of dynamic, mobile and structured technological systems. The British data continues to support a 'modified short chronology' to the north of the Alps and the Pyrenees, with highly sporadic evidence for a hominin presence prior to 500-600kya, although the ages of key assemblages are subject to ongoing debates regarding the chronology of the Bytham river terraces and the early Middle Pleistocene glaciations of East Anglia.

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“…Whilst some argue that these tills are still of Scandinavian origin (i.e. Gibbard et al, 2008), ice flow trajectories for the SIS required to incorporate such a geographical range of lithologies from southern Norway, central Scotland and northern and eastern England are glaciologically -implausible (Lee et al, 2008b). It also overlooks extensive evidence for the configuration of the Norwegian sector of the SIS during repeated Pleistocene expansions into the North Sea .…”

Section: Till Provenancementioning

confidence: 99%