Collectors, class and conflict at the lower palaeolithic discovery at Stoke Newington, 1878-1884

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper uses events following the 1878 discovery of a rich Lower Palaeolithic ‘living floor’ at Stoke Newington, London, to explore the social and economic relationships and imbalances that existed within Palaeolithic archaeology in the mid to late nineteenth century. It explores in particular the role of the British working classes in amassing the extant record, the biases they might have introduced and the value of this archaeology to their own lives and livelihoods.