9 - Testing Human Presence During the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e): A Review of the British Evidence

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reviews the archaeological evidence for human presence and absence in Britain during the last interglacial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e (Ipswichian) compared with the evidence for occupation during MIS 7. An inventory of 139 sites provides the basis for this review. The data are evaluated using current stratigraphic and biostratigraphic frameworks together with geochronology to provide a much reduced list of sites which can be attributed with greater confidence to MIS 5e and a further list of sites that can be reasonably assigned to MIS 7. A comparison of these enables an assessment of whether biases in the nature of the sites, type of investigations, collection history or other factors are responsible for the discovery of archaeological evidence from these sites. This review of the data supports the interpretation that humans were absent from Britain or that there was only a very sparse presence during MIS 5e. This model, however, should be subjected to further systematic testing as sites become available. Finally, ideas are discussed as to why humans should have been absent or scarce in Britain at this time, concluding that the island status of Britain and the low population of Neanderthals in northwest Europe are contributory factors.