The British Lower Palaeolithic of the early Middle Pleistocene |
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| Authors: | Robert Hosfield |
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| Institution: | 1. Grupo de Estudos de Arqueoloxía, Antigüidade e Territorio (GEAAT), University of Vigo, Campus As Lagoas, 32004 Ourense, Spain;2. IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), University of Alcalá de Henares, Covarrubias 36, 28010 Madrid, Spain;3. School of Physical Sciences, Environment Institute, Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;4. Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road Nathan, QLD, 4111, Australia;5. Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH). Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, 3, 09002 Burgos, Spain |
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| Abstract: | The archaeology of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene (MIS 19–12) 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 Westbury-sub-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 500–600 ka, 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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