The earliest evidence of Acheulian occupation in Northwest Europe and the rediscovery of the Moulin Quignon site, Somme valley, France

Abstract

The dispersal of hominin groups with an Acheulian technology and associated bifacial tools into northern latitudes is central to the debate over the timing of the oldest human occupation of Europe. New evidence resulting from the rediscovery and the dating of the historic site of Moulin Quignon demonstrates that the first Acheulian occupation north of 50°N occurred around 670–650 ka ago. The new archaeological assemblage was discovered in a sequence of fluvial sands and gravels overlying the chalk bedrock at a relative height of 40 m above the present-day maximal incision of the Somme River and dated by ESR on quartz to early MIS 16. More than 260 flint artefacts were recovered, including large flakes, cores and five bifaces. This discovery pushes back the age of the oldest Acheulian occupation of north-western Europe by more than 100 ka and bridges the gap between the archaeological records of northern France and England. It also challenges hominin dispersal models in Europe showing that hominins using bifacial technology, such as Homo heidelbergensis, were probably able to overcome cold climate conditions as early as 670–650 ka ago and reasserts the importance of the Somme valley, where Prehistory was born at the end of the 19th century.

The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy)

“…Our study shows that hominins managed bifacial volumes, at least at the transition between MIS 17 and 16 in Italy, and that repeated human occupations occurred in both glacial and interglacial climatic conditions. The technological shift evidenced between layers G and I is not reflected by core technology, which is similar to core-and-flake assemblages (Mode 1) and some early Acheulean records (TD6 Atapuerca in Spain, prior to 780 ka, or Moulin-Quignon at 650 ka in the North of France) 13,[28][29][30][31] , unlike other penecontemporaneous and younger sites, which show evidence of knapping innovation (e.g., la Noira 700 ka) 5,[32][33][34] . The core technology on the whole sequence at Notarchirico, from level alpha to level F (excavations of M. Piperno) 13 , does not indicate differences over time and is similar to the technology applied in layers G and I at the bottom of the sequence.…”

“…This ability to manage bifacial and bilateral symmetry, as well as the diversity of the morphological results, is also observed in penecontemporaneous Acheulean sites in North-western Europe between 700 and 600 ka at la Noira and Moulin-Quignon 5,13,[35][36][37][38][39][40][41] (Fig. 1).…”

“…At Notarchirico, Acheulean assemblages are associated both with interglacial (MIS17) and glacial (MIS16) contextes, while at La Noira and Moulin Quignon, the human occupations seems both contemporaneous to early glacial stages 5,12,13,30,31 . These sites also show the adaptability of hominins not only to climatic variability, but to widely varying geography and types of raw materials 33,34,39,40,52,53 .…”

Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

“…Significantly, both hard and soft hammers were used. At Moulin Quignon (Antoine et al, 2019) and Notarchirico (Pereira et al, 2015;Moncel et al, 2019Moncel et al, , 2020, the handaxes are shaped by removing large, bold flakes by hard hammer, with patches of remnant cortex often on the butt and sinuous cutting edges. The core technology utilises a variety of multi-directional techniques and the flake tools are again dominated by simple notches, denticulates and scrapers.…”

“…There are also three bifacial cleavers, while other pieces have isolated areas of bifacial working, sometimes opposite a natural back. Recent fieldwork at Moulin Quignon in the Somme Valley at Abbeville recovered 262 flint artefacts including five handaxes and 13 cores from fluvial sands and gravels dated to MIS 16 on the basis of terrace stratigraphy and ESR dating on quartz (Antoine et al ., 2019). The handaxes, which show a range of morphologies and modes of shaping, are made by hard hammer, with large deep removals and patches of remnant cortex, often towards the butt.…”