Flint Artefacts Research Articles

Fifty thousand years of flint knapping and tool shaping across the Mousterian and Uluzzian sequence of Fumane cave

Grotta di Fumane, a Mousterian site in northern Italy, has been extensively explored over the last two decades in order to gather data on Neanderthal behaviour from during the Late Pleistocene up to the appearance of Modern Humans. The 12 m thick sedimentary sequence includes several layers that have yielded variable amounts of flint artefacts and faunal remains, particularly in BR11, A11, A8-A9 and A5-A6, related to repeated and complex human occupations. The earliest assemblages record the exclusive use of the Levallois method from S9 to BR7 for the production of flakes with unidirectional and centripetal recurrent modalities. In BR9, bifaces and different types of cores have also been found. The first striking technological replacement occurs in BR6, up to BR3, where there is a complex of layers with the infrequent occurrence of bones, flakes and scrapers, made with a method closely resembling the Quina technique. Further evidence of variability in lithic technology is provided by the re-appearance of the Levallois technology during MIS3, in layer A11 – although here focused more on blades than flakes – and by the Levallois/Discoid alternance throughout the transect from A10V to A5-A6. The persistence of the Mousterian tradition in the lowermost A4 Uluzzian level continues to be evidenced by Levallois flakes and cores, side-scrapers, points and thinned implements. The presence of conjoined flakes and cores proves that innovations occurred in A4 and A3 and, with the disappearance of the Levallois technology in A3, other methods focused on different kinds of flakes, short thick blades, thin bladelets and flake-bladelets. Even though most of this evidence is similar to that of other Levallois sequences in the Mediterranean rim, some, such as the bifaces and the Quina assemblages, provides us with new details of the cultural scenario. The former are ascribable to the vast spread of bifacial industries from North-west France to Central and Eastern Europe in MIS4 and early MIS3, whereas the latter can be linked to the dissemination of Quina in Southeast France. The perspectives adopted for assessing the significance of the A units are broadly borne out in the other late Mousterian industries, where the replacement of Levallois techniques by discoid technologies is recorded, independently of geographical and palaeo-environmental context and site function. Striking innovations in lithic technology occurring at the top of the sequence record the appearance of the Uluzzian in Southern Italy and the Balkans.

Early Devensian (MIS 5d–5b) occupation at Dartford, southeast England

AbstractA deeply buried horizon containing mint‐condition flint artefacts was discovered in 2006 during archaeological investigations in advance of major roadworks near Dartford, Kent, in southeast England. The context of the artefacts and the freshness of their condition suggest this horizon represents a buried occupation surface. Optically stimulated luminescence dating places this horizon in the period Marine Isotope Stage 5d–5b, early in the British Devensian glaciation. This paper describes details of the artefacts, their context and dates, and outlines how this apparent occupation fits in with the wider pattern of Neanderthal settlement in Britain and northwest Europe in the later Pleistocene. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Le mobilier magdalénien en matières dures d’origine animale du site de Wilczyce 10 (district de Sandomierz, Pologne)

The Wilczyce site in southern Poland, on the Sandomierz plateau overlooking the Opatowka river valley, was discovered during a field survey conducted in 1994 as part of the Archaeological Map of Poland project. The archaeological material discovered justified a survey to determine the zone of the planned excavation. Systematic work carried out since 1998, first by Dr Fiedorczuk and after his death by Prof. Schild, has yielded a quantity of lithic and bone artefacts, art objects, and the bones of consumed animals, distributed within an ice wedge. The Magdalenian bone inventory consists of 54 artefacts : 3 bone figurines, 12 points, 2 intermediate tools, 2 smoothers, 1 chisel, 1 scoop-smoother, 2 awls, 1 baton, 2 handles, 24 needles, 1 plaque and 3 unidentified objects. They were all made of reindeer antler, mammoth tusk and bone. Among the most exceptional finds are points with a concave-convex section, obtained by scraping the antler (elimination of the spongy tissue) until compact bone was reached. They are fairly rare in the bone inventory of the Magdalenian culture. The typological analysis of the bone and flint artefacts from Wilczyce allows the site to be attributed to a Magdalenian occupation during the Upper Palaeolithic. According to the 14 C results the Wilczyce site fits within the upper horizon of the Magdalenian, which seems to confirm the theory that Magdalenian sites in central and eastern Europe belong for the most part to the upper and terminal phases of this culture.

The Creation of Societies for the Study of Prehistory and Their Role in the Formation of Prehistoric Archaeology as a Discipline, 1867–1929

By the closing decades of the nineteenth century the study of human prehistory had achieved considerable prominence throughout Europe as archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists made even more remarkable discoveries about the earliest periods of human history, and the reading public was presented with a hitherto unimaginable portrait of their earliest ancestors. Archaeology itself had undergone significant transformations, and the antiquarian research of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had developed into the modern science of archaeology by the early nineteenth century. But the rise of prehistoric archaeology as a distinct discipline within archaeology, with its own particular research problems and methods, is all the more interesting, since the very idea of a period of human prehistory was only recognized during the first half of the century. Historians of archaeology have explored the development of prehistoric archaeology during the nineteenth century through its primary investigators, their discoveries, and their research methods (Daniel 1962; Grayson 1983; Coye 1997; Rowley-Conwy 2007). In general, while the professionalization and institutionalization of archaeology has been examined by a number of scholars (Levine 1986; Chapman 1989; Emmerichs and Kehoe 1990), the professionalization and institutionalization of prehistoric archaeology as a distinct discipline has been given less attention (although see Richard 1992; Kaeser 2001). The formation of scientific societies devoted specifically to the study of prehistory was an important step in the process of the formation of prehistoric archaeology as a discipline with a unique professional identity. These organizations marked prehistoric archaeology as a field of study with its own particular objectives, methods, and interests that set it apart from other areas of archaeological research. Prehistory societies of various kinds began to be founded in the 1870s, and during the following half-century numerous societies appeared throughout Europe. Prehistory societies were established at a time when other institutions, such as museums and chairs in universities, were also being created. The construction of institutions devoted specifically to prehistoric research reflects the significant increase in the interest in human prehistory among scientists as well as among the public, beginning in the 1860s. The dramatic discoveries of Ice Age flint artifacts, and the delineation of the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages during the middle decades of the nineteenth century sparked considerable interest in the further exploration of prehistory among scientists. They recognized that specialized institutions, devoted to prehistoric research, would be valuable not only for the promotion of further discoveries, but also as vehicles for the collaboration and the dissemination of new ideas about prehistory, through meetings and publications sponsored by these institutions. Such institutions often

Oldest evidence of Acheulean occupation in the Upper Seine valley (France) from an MIS 11 tufa at La Celle

The tufa deposit of La Celle, located in the Upper Seine valley (Northern France), has been known for more than a century and extensive collections of shells and leaf impressions exist. These fossils led earlier authors to recognize the tufa as evidence of an old temperate phase of the Pleistocene. New studies have recently been undertaken at the site in order to reappraise its palaeontological potential and to improve its dating. Recent investigations are based on the analysis of a new series of stratified samples, coupled with a revision of material in several old collections. The new work shows that the tufa accumulated under interglacial conditions and demonstrates the progressive development of forest biotopes culminating in the climatic optimum. In the upper levels the reopening of the landscape is registered by both molluscan communities and plant remains. The tufa at La Celle has been correlated with MIS 11, based on the geomorphological context of the site, together with the occurrence of ‘the Lyrodiscus fauna’, a malacological assemblage characteristic of tufa deposits of this period in Northwest Europe. This correlation is supported by radiometric measurements (U-series and ESR/U-series,) which have produced a mean age of ∼400 ka. Mammalian remains are also preserved and include Macaca and Hippopotamus, which are the first well-provenanced records of these species from this region. An archaeological horizon with flint artefacts demonstrates human occupation during the interglacial optimum. Analysis of the lithic artefacts confirms their similarity with the Acheulean assemblage collected at the end of the 19th century. La Celle therefore represents one of the best dated Acheulean occupation sites in Northern France and one where the palaeoenvironmental context can be described in great detail.

WITHDRAWN: The Upper Pleistocene Abrasion of Flint Artifacts In Levantine Caves

WITHDRAWN: The Upper Pleistocene Abrasion of Flint Artifacts In Levantine Caves

Integration of use-wear with protein residue analysis – a study of tool use and function in the south Scandinavian Early Neolithic

This study presents research on how an integration of use-wear analysis with protein residue analysis can produce new results on prehistoric tool use and function. Thirty flint artefacts from an Early Neolithic TRB site in south Sweden were analysed for both use-wear and protein residues. The results show a positive correlation between the two methods. The Early Neolithic tools analysed were primarily used to process fish.

Shells and ochre in Middle Paleolithic Qafzeh Cave, Israel: indications for modern behavior

Qafzeh Cave, the burial grounds of several anatomically modern humans, producers of Mousterian industry, yielded archaeological evidence reflecting their modern behavior. Dated to 92 ka BP, the lower layers at the site contained a series of hearths, several human graves, flint artifacts, animal bones, a collection of sea shells, lumps of red ochre, and an incised cortical flake. The marine shells were recovered from layers earlier than most of the graves except for one burial. The shells were collected and brought from the Mediterranean Sea shore some 35 km away, and are complete Glycymeris bivalves, naturally perforated. Several valves bear traces of having been strung, and a few had ochre stains on them.

An Extensive Late Upper Palaeolithic Flint Scatter at Farndon Fields, Near Newark, Nottinghamshire

In 1991, nine Late Upper Palaeolithic flint artefacts were recovered by fieldwalking in advance of the proposed upgrading of the A46 Fosse Way; subsequent detailed fieldwalking and test-pitting have recovered over three hundred broadly contemporary struck items scattered over an area of some 15 ha. This flint was initially identifiable from other (later) prehistoric flintwork by its large size and cortication (i.e. white-blue surface), also by its technological and morphological traits distinctive of the earlier part of the Late Upper Palaeolithic, dated in south-western cave sites to the Lateglacial Interstadial, with radiocarbon determinations in the mid-thirteenth millennium BP. As at contemporary sites, raw materials seem to have been utilized from non-local sources (trace-element analysis suggests southern England), though the comparatively large number of flakes and blades with cortex suggests that preparation of raw materials was not as extensive as on some cave sites, even though the same flint sources were being used. Artefacts have been recovered from the ploughsoil and from the upper 0.10 m of subsoil overlying a fluvial gravel terrace close to the confluence of the Rivers Devon and Trent, Nottinghamshire. The scatter includes two clusters of artefacts, one initially located in 1993 and now perhaps wholly incorporated into the ploughsoil, the other, discovered only in 2005, lying at the edge of more recent alluvium, so perhaps better preserved. The dominant tool type is the scraper, and the rarity of points interpretable as weapon-heads may imply that the scatter represents primarily processing sites rather than a killing-ground. The different forms of the only two near-complete points may hint at a series of visits, rather than a short-term aggregation site. The potential links between hunters visiting the caves of Creswell Crags, a crossing of the Trent, and the processing of hide/bone/antler are explored.

Les grandes lames de silex du mobilier funéraire des proto-éleveurs du sud de l’Europe orientale

Since the discovery of the burial complexes left by the early stock-breeders in the steppe areas on the left bank of the Dnieper river in Ukraine, the problem of their synchronization with various cultural Eneolithic stages distinguished in the Balkan-Danube region has been hotly debated, as well as the question of the role the stock-breeding populations played in the sudden disappearance of these cultures. One of the most interesting finds were the burials discovered at Lugansk in Ukraine. Flint artifacts constitute an important category of the burial inventory, and of particular interest among them are macroblades. The experiments carried out by different researchers show that the production of such blades was associated with some specific methods of splitting, such as the use of a lever mechanism. Ocher was found on the surface of all these blades. Most of the tools have identical use-wear traces similar to those characteristic of the knives that were used to cut meat. The shortage of data about the Eneolithic flint-working centers in the steppe zone of Ukraine makes it difficult to decide whether the blades from local burial complexes were produced in place or imported from outside. Some chance finds of hoards with blades (without cultural context), as well as single interments with blades and cores may be indicative of the existence of vagrant flintknappers.

Excavations at Dunure Road, Ayrshire: a Bronze Age cist cemetery and standing stone

In March 2005, excavations were undertaken by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) at the Craig Tara Holiday Park, Dunure Road, Ayr in advance of proposed development. Two main archaeological sites were examined.
 The first, a flat cist cemetery covered by an earthen mound, comprised 23 separate burial features of varying morphology from two separate phases of burial, including cists, pits and what has been interpreted as a ‘boat-shaped’ setting. Nine cremations and four possible inhumations were recovered from within the burial features as well as a range of material culture including Food Vessels, flint artefacts and a bone pin. Dating of cremated bone from the cists indicated that activity at the site stretched from the late third to the early second millennium BC.
 The second site, a demolished or fallen standing stone, was located some 35m to the north and eastof the first. Although the sequence of monument construction and demolition is clear, the reasons forthe demolition of the stone are less so. However, a rare opportunity to date the stone was presentedwith the identification of a cremation deposit within the construction pit backfill. This indicated thatthe stone was constructed in the last quarter of the second millennium BC, suggesting a continuum ofactivity in the area late into the second millennium BC.

New radiometric ages for the Early Upper Palaeolithic type locality of Brno-Bohunice (Czech Republic): comparison of OSL, IRSL, TL and 14C dating results

New radiometric data are reported from the recent excavation of the type locality of the Early Upper Palaeolithic entity of the Bohunician. Recently obtained radiocarbon ( 14C) data on charcoal are compared with new Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of sediment. OSL ages were determined on sediment from the archaeological occupation at Brno-Bohunice, as well as from the over- and underlying loessic sediments. Multiple techniques were applied, which all gave congruent results. While a dual protocol (post IR-OSL) failed the quality criteria tests, ages were obtained by Multiple-Aliquot-Additive-Dose (MAAD) on polymineral material and Single-Aliquot-Regeneration (SAR) on fine grain quartz extract as well as on polymineral material. Fading tests show significant loss of Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) after storage for 3 and 12 months for one sample, but little or no fading for others. The resulting (uncorrected) age estimates are smaller than those on quartz by OSL methods. The latter are considered to be more reliable estimates of the sedimentation age of these deposits. The measured OSL doses do not show a simple distribution and the lowest 5% was used for age calculation to represent the most likely sedimentation age. The quartz from the loess overlying the archaeological layer is OSL dated to 30.9 ± 3.1 ka, while the sediment for the paleosol which contains the archaeological layer gave an age of 58.7 ± 5.8 ka. The attribution of this paleosol to the Hengelo interstadial is therefore questionable. However, if the Hengelo interstadial is correlated with the Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) event 12, statistical agreement within 2-σ is achieved. The OSL result for the archaeological layer is in accordance with a weighted average TL date on heated flint artifacts of 48.2 ± 1.9 ka from this layer as well as calibrated radiocarbon data (CalPal Hulu 2007) from nearby locations. However, radiocarbon data on charcoal samples obtained during excavation at Brno-Bohunice 2002 provide age estimates between 30 and 40 ka 14C-years, which translate to approximately (33) 35–44 ka on the calendric time scale according to the Hulu 2007 model. For the underlying loess a depositional age of 104.3 ± 10.6 ka was obtained by OSL. The presented OSL ages indicate that a simple correlation of soil sequences between sites within a region has to be verified by chronometric dating.

Bohunician technology and thermoluminescence dating of the type locality of Brno-Bohunice (Czech Republic)

Results of thermoluminescence (TL) dating of 11 heated flint artifacts from the 2002 excavation at Brno-Bohunice, Czech Republic, are presented. The samples are from the eponym locality for the Bohunician, an industrial type considered technologically transitional between Middle and Upper Paleolithic core reduction strategies. The Bohunician is the first early Upper Paleolithic technocomplex in the Middle Danube of Central Europe and, therefore, is implicated in several issues related to the origins of modern humans in Europe. The Bohunician provides an example of how one technological strategy combines crested blade initiation of a core with the surficial (almost Levalloisian) reduction of blanks as blades and points. As the Middle Danube lacks antecedents of the behavioral steps within this technology, several hypotheses of inter-regional cultural transmission, with and without hominin gene flow, could explain the appearance of the Bohunician. The elucidation of the temporal context of Bohunician assemblages is, therefore, a critical step in understanding the behavioral, and potentially biological, succession in this region. Radiocarbon age estimates from charcoal associated with Bohunician sites suggest a wide age range between 33 and 41 ka 14C BP, which is also observed for individual sites. TL dating of heated flint artifacts provides ages on the calendric time scale of an archeological event, the firing. The weighted mean of 48.2 ± 1.9 ka BP TL for 11 heated flint samples from Brno-Bohunice provides the first non-radiocarbon data on archeological material from the Bohunician. The TL dating, in conjunction with the archeological and sedimentological analysis, allows the evaluation of the integrity of this new type-collection. The hypothetical possibility of the incorporation of Szeletian artifacts (i.e., leaf points) into the site formation processes can therefore be refuted.

Continual fire-making by Hominins at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel

This paper presents the culmination of an extensive study of fire-use at the Early and early Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov. Using software available in the GIS package, we have examined the spatial distribution of burned and unburned flint microartifacts from eight Acheulian archaeological horizons. The results of this study demonstrate that the burned microartifacts are never evenly distributed and dense concentrations are observed. The circumstances that introduced these burned flint artifacts to the archaeological layers are examined, suggesting that anthropogenic rather than natural fires are responsible for the observed patterns. As the evidence for the use of fire is recorded throughout the long stratigraphic sequence, it seems that fire was continually used by the Acheulian hominins of the site. This repetitive use of fire indicates that the hominins of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov had a profound knowledge of fire-making, enabling them to make fire at will.

Holocene sequences and archaeology from the Crabble Paper Mill site, Dover, UK and their regional significance

The results of multidisciplinary investigations of the Quaternary sediments of the Dour valley, extending inland from Dover, Kent, are reported. The oldest sediments are unfossiliferous coarse gravels and silts of probable Late Devensian age. These are overlain by a complex series of peats and tufaceous sediments of early to mid-Holocene age. Pollen, mollusc, ostracod and vertebrate fossils (including the earliest British Holocene record of hazel dormouse) enable detailed reconstructions of the local environments and the vegetational and faunal history. A chronology is provided by a number of radiocarbon dates. The sequence is mantled by colluvial hillwash. The younger sediments have produced evidence for the presence of early humans (marine shells and flint artefacts) during the Bronze Age.

Beach deposits of MIS 5e high sea stand as indicators for tectonic stability of the Carmel coastal plain, Israel

Ten beach deposits, mainly beachrock, on the Carmel coastal plain, northern Israel, are discussed. Six are reported for the first time. The deposits are situated within or close to the following seasonal stream (locally termed Nahal) channels: Nahal Ahuza, Amiram, Ovadia, Galim, Megadim, Bir Ibdawiya, Me’arot and Kebara. The morphology and lithology of most of the deposits are similar: their uppermost altitude varies from 0 to 9 m above the present sea level. Most of the deposits are composed mainly of fine quartz sand and marine mollusk shells carbonate cemented. The dominant mollusk families are Glycymerididae, Cardiidae and Donacidae. Most of the beach deposits are situated between cemented aeolian sandstones (locally termed kurkar) layers on the Carmel coast ridge. In the Nahal Ahuza deposit, a marine gastropod Lentigo latus, an index fossil for the MIS 5e high sea stand in the Mediterranean area was discovered. According to lithology and chronostratigraphy, the presence of Lentigo latus, Th/U, AAR and RTL dating and flint artifacts, the beach deposits were related to the Last Interglacial maximum about 125 ka BP, i.e. the MIS 5e high sea stand. These beach deposits are used to identify the palaeo sea levels and coastlines and to study the tectonics along the Carmel coastal plain. By comparing the elevations and characteristics of the beach deposits to known MIS 5e deposits elsewhere, and by analyzing archaeological data, it is concluded that during the last 125 ka, the maximum possible vertical displacement was less than 48 mm/ka, and the Carmel coastal plain was relatively tectonically stable.

An early Holocene submarine slide in Boknafjorden and the effect of a slide-triggered tsunami on Stone Age settlements at Rennesøy, SW Norway

Multibeam bathymetry and seismic data disclose three submarine slides in the outer Boknafjord area, SW Norway. The largest slide (Arsneset slide) has a volume of ca. 28 × 10 6 m 3. The scar of this slide is 15–30 m high and it covers an area of ca. 1.4 × 10 6 m 2. Seismic data on sediment thicknesses and sedimentation rate estimates from radiocarbon dating indicate that this slide occurred ca. 10 000 14C yr BP. 2D and 3D simulations of the tsunami generated by the slide indicate run-up heights on the neighbouring Galta peninsula of 2.5–4 m at a slide velocity of 25 m s − 1 . Possible higher slide velocities would have caused waves reaching higher areas. An archaeological excavation on the Galta peninsula at Rennesøy yielded approximately 17 500 flint artefacts of Late Palaeolithic/Early Mesolithic age in an up to 1 m thick beach sediment sequence. The archaeological material combined with sedimentological and shoreline displacement data limit the occupation time of the settlements to approximately 10 000–9700 14C yr BP, which makes them to one of the oldest known Stone Age settlements in southern Norway. There is no evidence of transgressions between 10 200 and 9500 14C yr BP, which could explain erosion of settlements and the presence of flint artefacts within the beach sediment sequence. It is thus possible that the oldest settlements were flooded and eroded away by a slide-generated tsunami. Artefacts and sediments were transported downslope into the sea and were subsequently reworked by waves during continued isostatic uplift.

Terrestrial environments during MIS 11: evidence from the Palaeolithic site at West Stow, Suffolk, UK

Multidisciplinary investigations of the sequence at Beeches Pit, West Stow (Suffolk, UK), have a direct bearing the age of the Hoxnian Interglacial and its correlation with the continental Holsteinian and with the global marine record. At this site, glacial deposits (till and outwash gravels) referable to the Anglian Lowestoft Formation fill a subglacial channel cut in Chalk bedrock. Above these glacial deposits a series of interglacial sediments occurs, consisting of limnic, tufaceous and colluvial silts, lacking pollen but rich in shells, ostracods and vertebrates. Lower Palaeolithic flint artefacts of Acheulian character have also been recovered, including refitting examples. Charred material is abundant at certain horizons and many of the bones have been burned. Several discrete areas of burnt sediment are interpreted as hearths. The molluscan fauna comprises some 78 taxa and includes species of considerable zoogeographical and biostratigraphical importance. The land snail assemblage from the tufa consists of woodland taxa with no modern analogue, including species that are either extinct (e.g. Zonitoides sepultus) or which no longer live in Britain (e.g. Platyla polita, P. similis, Neniatlanta pauli). This is also the type locality of Retinella ( Lyrodiscus) skertchlyi, which belongs to a subgenus of zonitid land snail now living only on the Canary Islands. There are indications from this fauna (‘the Lyrodiscus biome’) that the climate was wetter and perhaps warmer than the present day. The vertebrate fauna is also noteworthy with species of open habitats, such as rabbit ( Oryctolagus cf . cuniculus), and of closed forest, such as squirrel ( Sciurus sp.) and garden dormouse ( Eliomys quercinus) present at different times. The occurrence of southern thermophiles, such as Aesculapian snake ( Zamenis longissimus), indicates temperatures warmer than those of eastern England today. The upper levels include much material reworked from the interglacial sediments, although there is clear faunal evidence for climatic deterioration. Both the molluscan and vertebrate faunas suggest correlation of the interglacial sediments with the Hoxnian. Uranium series dates from the tufa (∼455 ka BP), TL dates from burnt flints (414±30 ka BP) and a range of amino acid racemization data all support correlation of this interglacial with MIS 11. However, four OSL dates from sand beneath the interglacial sequence yield a mean age of 261±31 ka BP, far younger than all other age determinations and far younger than implied by the biostratigraphy. Archaeologically the site is unusual in showing prolonged human occupation within closed deciduous forest and evidence for controlled use of fire in a Lower Palaeolithic context. Biostratigraphical correlations with other Lower Palaeolithic sites support the suggestion that Acheulian and Clactonian industries both occurred in southern Britain during the same substage of the Hoxnian, although not necessarily at precisely the same time. The characteristics of the MIS 11 interglacial in Britain are discussed in the light of evidence from Beeches Pit and elsewhere.

A NEW THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING TECHNIQUE FOR HEATED FLINT*

A new thermoluminescence (TL) technique for determining the age of heated flint artefacts from archaeological sites is presented. It is a variant of the SAR protocol, which is usually used for OSL dating of sediment, but it is not based on a presumed model for fitting the dose–response curve. Dose recovery tests as well as comparisons with standard protocols show the accuracy of the new technique. It is found that the sensitivity of the thermoluminescence (TL) signal of flint in the orange–red waveband does not show severe changes due to the heating process while measuring the TL. This allows the application of a short SAR procedure, which requires only two dose points. The technique does not require as much instrument time as other SAR techniques, and thus is advantageous for dating very old samples. The major advantage of this new technique is the small amount of sample material required, which allows the dating of samples that are too small for standard TL dating techniques.

Humans in the Hoxnian: habitat, context and fire use at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, UK

AbstractA Lower Palaeolithic industry at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, occurs within an interglacial sequence that immediately overlies glacial deposits, referable to the Anglian Lowestoft Formation. There is strong biostratigraphical evidence from both vertebrates and molluscs that the interglacial represented is the Hoxnian (MIS 11). This conclusion is supported by uranium series dates from carbonate nodules (>400 kyr), TL dates from burnt flint (414 ± 30 kyr) and a range of amino acid racemisation data. The archaeology consists of flint artefacts of Acheulian character, including many refitting examples. Charred material is abundant in three stratigraphical units and many bones and flints have been burnt, indicating repeated occurrence of fire. Several discrete areas of burnt sediment appear to be hearths. This interpretation is supported by: (1) the intensity of burning (600–800°C) implied by the charred and calcined bones; (2) the intersection of two of the burnt areas, implying separate burning events at slightly different, overlapping locations; (3) the discovery of two burnt flakes that refit onto an adjacent group that are unburnt, indicating that the burning was highly localised; and (4) the spatial distribution of artefacts respects the features interpreted as hearths, suggesting fireside knapping. Fossils associated with the archaeology indicate occupation within closed deciduous forest in a fully temperate climate. Attractions to this unusual environment would have included the fresh water provided by springs, a rich supply of potential food and a prolific source of good quality flint for tool manufacture. The archaeological evidence therefore suggests that the site repeatedly served as an area of focused activities (perhaps a ‘home‐base’) during much of the interglacial. The upper levels of the sequence provide clear faunal evidence of climatic deterioration during which human occupation and fire use persisted. Biostratigraphical correlations with other Lower Palaeolithic sites lend support to the suggestion that Acheulian and Clactonian industries occurred in Britain during the same substage of the Hoxnian, although not necessarily at precisely the same time. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.