Integrated chronological control on an archaeologically significant Pleistocene river terrace sequence: the Thames-Medway,eastern Essex,England |
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| Authors: | RM Briant AA Kilfeather S Parfitt KEH Penkman RC Preece HM Roe J-L Schwenninger FF Wenban-Smith JE Whittaker |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, King''s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK;2. School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK;3. Palaeontology Department, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK;4. BioArCh, Department of Chemistry, University of York, YO10 5DD, UK;5. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK;6. School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen''s University, Belfast, BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK;7. Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK;8. Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BF, UK |
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| Abstract: | Late Middle Pleistocene Thames-Medway deposits in eastern Essex comprise both large expanses of Palaeolithic artefact-bearing river sands/gravels and deep channels infilled with thick sequences of fossiliferous fine-grained estuarine sediments that yield valuable palaeoenvironmental information. Until recently, chronological control on these deposits was limited to terrace stratigraphy and limited amino-acid racemisation (AAR) determinations. Recent developments in both this and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating make them potentially powerful tools for improving the chronological control on such sequences. This paper reports new AAR analyses and initial OSL dating from the deposits in this region. These results will help with ongoing investigation of patterns of early human settlement.Using AAR, the attribution by previous workers of the interglacial channel deposits to both MIS 11 (Tillingham Clay) and MIS 9 (Rochford and Shoeburyness Clays) is reinforced. Where there are direct stratigraphic relationships between AAR and OSL as with the Cudmore Grove and Rochford Clays and associated gravels, they agree well. Where OSL dating is the only technique available, it seems to replicate well, but must be treated with caution since there are relatively few aliquots. It is suggested on the basis of this initial OSL dating that the gravel deposits date from MIS 8 (Rochford and Cudmore Grove Gravels) and potentially also MIS 6 (Dammer Wick and Barling Gravels). However, the archaeological evidence from the Barling Gravel and the suggested correlations between this sequence and upstream Thames terraces conflict with this latter age estimate and suggest that it may need more investigation. |
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