The Palaeolithic record of Warsash, Hampshire, UK: implications for late Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic occupation history of Southern Britain

Davis, Robert J.; Hatch, Marcus; Ashton, Nick; Hosfield, Robert; Lewis, Simon G.

doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2016.09.005

Cited by 12 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The anticipated antiquity of the terraces of the Solent region, and reported issues encountered during the PASHCC project, led to the development of a rigorous programme of tests in order to assess the luminescence ages produced during this study. (Davis 2013;Davis et al 2016).…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The substantial archaeological resource found in these terraces has been the focus of renewed interest (Davis 2013;Hatch 2014;Davis et al 2016), in order to better understand its characteristics and chronology. The context of this record has until recently been unclear in two significant respects, firstly the lack of accurate location information for many artefact and assemblage find-spots (Davis 2013;Davis et al 2016) and secondly deficiencies in the broader terrace stratigraphic framework, due to a lack of preserved biological material, poor chronological control, and the absence of a correlative model of terrace sediments from Bournemouth through to the Test valley. The most recent reviews of the terrace stratigraphy of the River Test (the Palaeolithic Archaeology of the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal Corridor project (PASHCC, Bates and Briant 2009;Briant et al 2012) and Harding et al 2012) have produced very different interpretive models, due partly to contrasting approaches to the construction of long profile projections of terrace sediments and landforms, and also to their differing interpretations of the stratigraphic and topographic data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately the majority of the material collected at Warsash was not accompanied by detailed stratigraphic or contextual detail. However, a recent review of historic mapping and museum archives and collections enabled the locations of the key Palaeo-producing pits to be identified (Davis et al 2016). Furthermore, correlating the timing of artefact collection and the history of gravel extraction in the Warsash area allowed a significant proportion of artefacts with a 'general' provenance to be assigned to the Mottisfont/Lower Warsash Terrace.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Roe 1981Roe , 2001Wenban-Smith 2004;Bridgland and White 2014;White 2015). The stratigraphic relationship between the handaxe assemblage and the smaller Levallois assemblage at Warsash is significant in understanding the nature of early Middle Palaeolithic occupation, both in the Solent region and in Britain in general (Ashton and Hosfield 2010;Ashton et al 2011;Pettitt & White 2012;Ashton et al 2015;Davis et al 2016). Burkitt et al (1939) provided brief notes on the geology at Warsash as seen in a section at Newbury's Pit (Figure 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The stratigraphy and chronology of the fluvial sediments at Warsash, UK: implications for the Palaeolithic archaeology of the River Test

Hatch

Davis

Lewis

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the Geologists' Association

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This paper reports new fieldwork at Warsash which clarifies the terrace stratigraphic framework of the Palaeolithic archaeology of the region. Sections were recorded in former gravel pits and at coastal locations, supplemented by the use of ground penetrating radar and luminescence dating techniques. The region's extensive borehole archive was also analysed to produce a revised terrace stratigraphy at Warsash and for the Test valley as a whole. At Warsash, some of the sediments previously identified as the Mottisfont/Lower Warsash Terrace are reassigned to the Hamble, Belbin/Upper Warsash and Ganger Wood/Mallards Moor Terraces. A luminescence dating programme, using test procedures not utilised in earlier dating studies in the region, yielded age estimates for the Hamble and Mottisfont/Lower Warsash Terraces at Warsash and also highlighted the complicated nature of the fluvial sediments of the River Test, suggesting that published luminescence ages for these deposits should be treated with some caution. This study indicates that the data used to construct terrace stratigraphies also requires careful assessment. The use of bedrock height and sediment thickness data produces more coherent long profile correlations than those produced by terrace surface data alone. The revised terrace stratigraphy provides the framework for the Palaeolithic archaeology at Warsash and clarifies correlations within and between archaeologically important sediments of the Test Valley, enabling it to contribute to discussions on the Lower-Middle Pleistocene settlement history of southern Britain.

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Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The stratigraphy and chronology of the fluvial sediments at Warsash, UK: implications for the Palaeolithic archaeology of the River Test

Hatch

Davis

Lewis

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the Geologists' Association

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Frontiers and route‐ways from Europe: the Early Middle Palaeolithic of Britain

Ashton

Harris

Lewis

2018

J Quaternary Science

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Britain has a rich and well‐documented earlier Palaeolithic record, which provides a unique resource to investigate population dynamics and the cultural and geographical links with north‐west Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. This paper examines a newly enhanced dataset for the distribution of finds locations and their geological context. Using artefact types as proxies for different populations it contrasts the Lower Palaeolithic and Early Middle Palaeolithic records. New methods are devised to mitigate for the clear bias towards handaxes in collection history. Taking account of this bias, the results suggest differences in distribution between Lower Palaeolithic and Early Middle Palaeolithic populations, with the latter more heavily concentrated in the lower reaches of large southern and eastern rivers. Drawing on recent studies on the palaeogeography of the Channel and southern North Sea Basin, the paper suggests that this restricted distribution reflects short‐lived occupation by small groups of early Neanderthals in late MIS 8, who eventually became locally extinct because of isolation caused by rising sea levels in the first warm sub‐stage of MIS 7.

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Pleistocene environments, climate, and human activity in Britain during Marine Isotope Stage 7: insights from Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire

Hogue

Wilkinson

Allison

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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Investigations at Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire, in western England have revealed a sequence of fluvial deposits dating from Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 to 5. At the base of the sequence, a series of gravel and sand facies were deposited, initially as part of a meandering river. Reductions in flow energy of the latter and avulsion led to the development of short‐lived channels and episodic backwater environments, the deposits of which are recorded as Facies Associations 1–3. Poorly sorted, probably colluvial deposits formed beyond the limit of the channel (Facies Association 4). Mollusca, Coleoptera, plant macrofossils, pollen and vertebrates recovered from the channel facies indicate broadly similar climatic conditions throughout accretion. Temperature ranges derived from mutual climatic range analysis of the Coleoptera almost completely overlap with those of Cerney Wick at the present day, albeit that winters may have been cooler when the channel was active. Further, the floral and faunal data suggest that the meandering river flowed through an open grassland environment, the latter heavily grazed by large vertebrates, most notably mammoth. Most of the botanical and faunal remains, together with four optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age estimates ranging from 225 ± 23 to 187 ± 19 ka, suggest correlation of the channel deposits with MIS 7. The basal deposits (Facies Association 1) yielded the majority of vertebrate remains and all the lithic artefacts, most of which seem likely to have travelled only a short distance. Although only a few artefacts were recovered, they add to the relatively limited evidence of human activity from the upper Thames. The channel deposits are overlain by sheet gravels (Facies Association 5) which are attributed to the Northmoor Member of the Upper Thames Formation. These were likely to have been deposited as bedload in a braided stream environment, while two OSL age estimates of 129 ± 14 and 112 ± 11 ka suggest accumulation during MIS 5.

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The Palaeolithic record of Warsash, Hampshire, UK: implications for late Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic occupation history of Southern Britain

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

The stratigraphy and chronology of the fluvial sediments at Warsash, UK: implications for the Palaeolithic archaeology of the River Test

The stratigraphy and chronology of the fluvial sediments at Warsash, UK: implications for the Palaeolithic archaeology of the River Test

Frontiers and route‐ways from Europe: the Early Middle Palaeolithic of Britain

Pleistocene environments, climate, and human activity in Britain during Marine Isotope Stage 7: insights from Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire

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