The position and context of Middle Palaeolithic industries from the Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, UK

Abstract

The late Middle Pleistocene sites in the Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, UK, have yielded archaeological assemblages critical to understanding the early Middle Palaeolithic of northwestern Europe. Despite a long history of research, the nature and context of these assemblages are still poorly understood. This paper clarifies the stratigraphic, environmental and archaeological records at Ebbsfleet. These reflect a cold–warm–cold sequence of climatic events, preserved within part of the Taplow/Mucking Formation of the Thames (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 8/7/6). Levallois artefacts are shown to be restricted to the lower part of the Ebbsfleet Channel sequence (Phases I and II) and are assigned to late MIS 8/early MIS 7. This material is associated with fauna indicative of open environments during both cool and temperate conditions. Handaxe assemblages are recorded from higher up the sequence (Phases III–V), but have been redeposited from higher terrace units nearby. No primary context archaeology is apparent during these later phases of aggradation. This may indicate that humans abandoned the site once available raw material became inaccessible, and may also reflect a decline in human presence in Britain during the latter part of MIS 7. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.