Lower Gravel Research Articles

Clactonian and Acheulian Industries in Britain—their chronology and significance: The Henry Stopes Memorial Lecture 1974

Three sites are considered, where controlled archaeological excavations have been conducted of levels containing both Clactonian and Acheulian flint industries in primary contexts. The sites are Clactonon-Sea, Essex; Hoxne, Suffolk; and Swanscombe, Kent. All are on the fringes or just within the area covered by the till of the Anglian Stage. The sedimentary record at each of these sites is complex, and it is stressed that at none of them can it be certain that there is a complete record of any one period of time; in fact, discontinuities can be demonstrated. In spite of this it seems likely that the three sequences do overlap in time somewhere and correlations are possible. The Anglian till is used as a marker horizon and the pollen profile of the Hoxnian interglacial is regarded as the best available method for correlating some of the post-Anglian deposits at all three sites. The pollen profile at Clacton has been equated with that from Hoxne, and if this is accepted, it raises important archaeological implications concerning the relationship of the Clactonian and Acheulian industries. The conclusion is that the Clactonian has a long history, dating back in time to the latter part of the Anglian, and continued to at least the Early-temperate zone of the Hoxnian, Ho. IIb. Both the Acheulian and Clactonian industries were produced by people with preference for occupying river, marsh or lake environments. The Acheulian first appears at Hoxne in zone Ho. IIc, close in time to the Clactonian. Coupled with the disappearance from the archaeological record of the Clactonian after this period, it is suggested that there may have been territorial infringements to cause this disappearance. New evidence from Hoxne also demonstrates that different traditions of hand-axe manufacture existed side by side in Britain during the Hoxnian and Wolstonian stages. The Swanscombe sequence cannot be fitted with much certainty into the framework suggested by Clacton and Hoxne, but new pollen evidence from the Lower Loam suggests that either the Lower Gravel and Lower Loam are pre-Hoxnian, or the Middle Gravels belong to the Wolstonian.

Interglacial deposits in Barnfield pit, Swanscombe, and their molluscan fauna

This paper describes the non-marine Mollusca of the Pleistocene terrace deposits of Barnfield pit, Swanscombe, and discusses their ecological and climatic significance. Biostratigraphical relationships with Hoxnian deposits at Clacton-on-Sea and at certain other sites in the lower Thames basin are examined. It is suggested that the Lower Gravel and Lower Loam of Barnfield pit were formed in the early-temperate substage of the Hoxnian interglacial (zone Ho II), whereas the Middle Gravels began to accumulate not before the end of the late-temperate substage (zone Ho III), and probably extend into the early-glacial substage of the succeeding glaciation. New evidence bearing on the dating of the Clacton Channel deposits is contained in the appendix. The Clactonian flint industry at the type site is shown to belong at least partly in subzone Ho IIb of the interglacial.

Report on Excavations on the Cambridgeshire Car Dyke, 1947

The excavations described in this report were aimed at establishing more about the character of the Cambridgeshire Car Dyke and at defining the period during which it was in active use. The dyke, which traverses with several changes of direction the low gravel and loam promontory between the fork of the Cam or Granta immediately south of Waterbeach and the alluvium of the Old West River (and present Ouse) north-north-east of Cottenham (fig. 1), varies in character considerably in its five-mile course. Most of it has been degraded to a field ditch, and over some stretches cultivation has overrun the banks on either side and encroached upon the bed, but the dyke survives reasonably intact at Waterbeach and on the site of the present excavations at Bullock's Haste and Setchel Fen.

New evidence for an Illinoian glacial boundary in northeastern Ohio

The discovery of high-level Illinoian outwash gravel in the Tuscarawas River valley near Port Washington, Ohio, proves that Illinoian ice existed in the headwaters of the present valley. The deposit lies 35 miles east of the outwash from the Illinoian drift in central Ohio. The gravel is 90 feet above the Wisconsin outwash terraces and was deposited in a bypass of the main Illinoian drainage channel so that it was protected from removal when Wisconsin outflowing water passed down the Tuscarawas Valley. A lower gravel terrace 30 feet above the Wisconsin level is considered late Illinoian. Evidence for identifying the gravel as Illinoian, conditions during that epoch, and a discussion of the related preglacial and Pleistocene physiographic history are presented. Evidence is given to show that the Atlantic-Gulf divide at Port Washington was incised in pre-Illinoian time instead of later. The existence of Illinoian ice as far south as Shreve, Ohio, the presence of the Illinoian gravel at Magnolia, Ohio, and the gravel at Port Washington, Ohio, make it possible to connect more accurately the Illinoian drift of the Scioto lobe in central Ohio with that of northwestern Pennsylvania. The existence of Illinoian ice across northeastern Ohio disproves statements that drainage of the upper Ohio basin during Illinoian time was through the Lake Erie basin.

Early Settlement at Runcton Holme, Norfolk

The antiquities here described came to light in the course of commercial gravel digging, but though we lack stratigraphical information they appear to be of sufficient importance in themselves to be worthy of accurate record. It is entirely due to the efforts and care of Mr. Ivan Thatcher, of King's Lynn, that they were recovered at all and we would like to thank him for the great trouble he has taken to see that as much as possible became available for study. Through his generosity the greater part of the Beaker pottery and also the figured sherds of the Early Iron Age and Romano-British periods are now in the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge. Messrs.F. B. and G. W. Gorbould, the lessees of the pit, have co-operated patiently in the preservation of Antiquities from the site, and Mr. J. R. Gorboud has also been very helpful. We have also to thank Miss Feetham for placing a Beaker (No. 2) on deposit in the same museum. Mr. Cockle of Lynn, kindly allowed the jet bead to be drawn. Finally we have to thank Mr. L. C. G. Clarke, F.S.A., and Miss O' Reilly of the Cambridge Museum for granting facilities for studying the objects in their charge.Runcton Holme is situated some six miles due south of King's Lynn and about a mile to the east of the river Ouse. The exact position of the site is shown by Fig. 1. It consists of a low gravel promontory averaging about 20 feet above O.D. (Newlyn) and overlooking a vast expanse of Fenland. The marginal character of the site is illustrated by the fact that, but for the embanking of the Ouse, high spring tides would approach it quite closely. There appear to have been two main periods of early settlement on the site, Peterborough-Beaker and Early Iron Age-Romano-British, with an interval roughly speaking of a millenium when, so far as we can tell, it was abandoned. Whether this gap is a real one and whether in which case it was due to some natural cause, we cannot on the evidence before us decide. It will, however, be instructive to observe whether other sites discovered in the future on this gravel edge reveal a similar break in human occupation. The objects dating from the first occupation are briefly described in this paper, while the later occupation which accounts for the bulk of the archaeological material is dealt with by Mr. Christopher Hawkes, F.S.A. , of the British Museum.

Preliminary Notice: Types of Clactonian Implements at Swanscombe

Since my paper on the Clactonian Industry at Swanscombe was read in 1929, I have obtained many more implements from Barnfield Pit (the one there described) and also a large collection from Rickson's Farm Pit.The lower gravel at Rickson's Farm Pit has yielded the same culture as the lower gravel in Barnneld Pit, and it underlies a shell-bed containing I heodoxus cantianus (Ken. and B. B. Wood.), which is succeeded by a gravel containing well finished St. Acheul hand-axes in both places. The Acheulian tools from Rickson's Farm Pit differ somewhat from those obtained in Barnfield Pit in that there are fewer of the pear-shaped, pointed implements. The usual type in the former pit is thinner, more ovate, and frequently with a pronounced ‘twist’ of the reversed S kind.