Lower Palaeolithic Artefacts Research Articles

The Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic Sites of Dulung River Valley, Eastern India

Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic periods are considered two of the most important phases of human’s cultural evolution. The Indian subcontinent is one of the few places where the earliest evidence of both the Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic periods have been found. In this article, preliminary observations on 28 recently discovered Lower Palaeolithic and Microlithic sites in the Dulung River valley of the eastern part of India are described. The sites have been found by intensive foot surveys conducted in the last two years. The Lower Palaeolithic sites are mostly found in the ferricrete deposits of the uplands of this region, whereas Microlithic sites are found deposited in the latosol/oxisol horizons of the badlands of this region. Among recovered Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, Acheulean Handaxes appear to be dominant. Recovered microliths are fewer in number, but they are fresh in condition. The results of this study give a more clear understanding of the distribution of the earliest human cultures in Eastern India.

On the earliest Acheulean in Britain: first dates and in-situ artefacts from the MIS 15 site of Fordwich (Kent, UK).

Northern Europe experienced cycles of hominin habitation and absence during the Middle Pleistocene. Fluvial gravel terrace sites in the east of Britain and north of France provide a majority of the data contributing to this understanding, mostly through the presence or absence of stone-tool artefacts. To date, however, relatively few sites have been radiometrically dated, and many have not been excavated in modern times, leading to an over-reliance on selectively sampled and poorly dated lithic assemblages. This includes Fordwich (Kent, UK), where over 330 bifaces were discovered through industrial quarrying in the 1920s. Here, we present the first excavation and dating of artefacts discovered in situ at Fordwich, alongside their technological analysis and relationship to those previously recovered. The site is demonstrated to retain deposits of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, with 251 flakes, scrapers and cores identified to date. Infrared-radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating of feldspar reveals 112 artefacts to have come from levels dating to at least 570 ± 36 to 513 ± 30 thousand years ago (ka) and are most plausibly assigned to an MIS 14 deposition, with artefacts produced during MIS 15 (approx. 560–620 ka). Indeed, these IR-RF samples provide minimum ages for artefacts. Combined with evidence from exposures linked to the original quarrying activities, a similar MIS 15 age is suggested for the more than 330 handaxe artefacts discovered in the 1920s. The remaining excavated artefacts come from levels dated to between 347 ± 22 and 385 ± 21 ka (MIS 10 or 11), with this later age interpreted to reflect post-MIS 14 deposition by substrate gullying and solifluction. These data demonstrate Fordwich to be one of the earliest Palaeolithic sites in northwestern Europe, and to retain the only large Acheulean handaxe assemblage directly dated to pre-MIS 13. Thus, Fordwich is determined to be a crucial piece of the pre-Anglian Palaeolithic puzzle in northern Europe.

A revised terrace stratigraphy and chronology for the early Middle Pleistocene Bytham River in the Breckland of East Anglia, UK

The Bytham River was one of the major pre-Anglian (MIS 12) rivers of eastern England. Flowing from the Midlands to the East Anglian coast, it has been recognised at numerous sites by its distinctive lithological suite, containing significant quantities of quartzite, quartz and Carboniferous chert that originate from central England. In the Breckland of Suffolk and Norfolk, deposits of the Bytham River can be identified at 26 sites by this distinctive clast lithological composition. These sediments, referred to as the Ingham Formation, consist of a series of sand and gravel aggradations, which due to their differences in elevation can be interpreted as at least four early Middle Pleistocene terrace remnants of the former river, and a final phase of deposition along the river valley prior to its destruction. This paper reports on recent fieldwork at six of these sites, which through stratigraphic and lithological analyses, together with new Electron Spin Resonance age estimates, contribute to a revised geological framework for the Bytham River as represented in the Breckland. These sites can be attributed to the four lowest fluvial aggradations, with the lowest and youngest of these aggradations shown to be early Anglian in age. The river was subsequently overrun by Anglian ice during Marine Isotope Stage 12. This revised geological and chronological interpretation provides an important framework for understanding the Lower Palaeolithic artefacts that have been found within these gravel aggradations, and contributes to the understanding of the human occupation of north-west Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene.

Several Lower Palaeolithic Sites along the Rhine Rift Valley, Dated from 1.3 to 0.6 Million Years

The important discoveries of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in stratigraphical context within Lower and early Middle Pleistocene deposits in the western continental part of Europe along the rift systeme of the Rhine Valley are pointing at the possible continuous presence of hominins since the Lower Pleistocene. This paper reports on lithic industry from its early appearance at around 1.3 million years (Ma) at the site of Münster-Sarmsheim to the latest pre-Elsterian period at around 0.6 Ma at Mauer, Mosbach, and Miesenheim.

New evidence for the Palaeolithic in Attica, Greece

Despite Greece’s key geographic position between southeast Europe and southwest Asia, and its potential for documenting hominin dispersals, Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites are rare. This suggests the need for research to identify deposits that may contain Palaeolithic artefacts. Here we describe 165 quartz and quartzite artefacts with Palaeolithic characteristics (based on technical and morphotypological definitions) from a private collection that was made from erosional lag deposits on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Pendeli and the northern edge of the Spata polje (a large karstic depression filled with terra rossas) in northeast Attica. Artefacts of the same type occur in the region of Ano Souli, another karstic depression. These karstic depressions are of interest because they resemble artefact-bearing deposits found at similar features such as Kokkinopilos in Epirus that have provided datable geologic contexts for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Our study suggests that Attica was frequented by hominins in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic and that Pleistocene deposits in karstic depressions in Attica may preserve datable contexts for documenting early human activity. The lithic collection described here provides a glimpse of the potential of the region, and we recommend continued archaeological efforts in Attica to investigate the likelihood for buried Palaeolithic sites.

Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in surface contexts in Britain with special reference to the Northern Drift (Oxfordshire) and Warren Hill (Suffolk)

The processes of surface clast dispersal are discussed and it is shown that on flat land the spatial integrity of larger gravel clasts (which include most diagnostic artefacts) is likely to be preserved over long periods. A structured approach is described for predicting land surfaces where Lower Palaeolithic artefact scatters may have survived through the British Quaternary. The topographic map of Britain is subjected to three tests to eliminate areas unlikely to preserve these surfaces. After progressively subtracting glaciated areas, areas covered by superficial deposits, and river basins/areas with slopes steeper than about 2°, the surfaces remaining have the potential for long-term stability. Eight criteria are described to help verify true palaeosurfaces. They comprise mostly high level plateau lands. On to this map are plotted fifteen sample localities known to have yielded Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from surface contexts. Ten lie within the predictive model, the remainder belong to surface fluvial deposits or other superficial deposits. Four sites have been mapped in enough detail to show the distribution of individual artefacts; in three, traces of clustering occurs, suggesting the original scatter patterns have not entirely dispersed in time. The two sites of Warren Hill and the Northern Drift where the author has worked are examined in more detail. Comparison is made with a ‘pristine’ Early/Middle Stone Age surface site from arid terrain in Namibia. It is argued that in certain circumstances even in the volatile British climate surface scatters may not have moved far from their original location. The predictive map can only be a general guide: each site is different, but clay-with-flints has ubiquitous potential. Surface studies include both flint and quartzite artefacts, with their contrasting typologies. It is concluded that surface studies are likely to lead to a more complete understanding of early human occupation patterns.

The earliest securely-dated hominin artefact in Anatolia?

Anatolia lies at the gateway from Asia into Europe and has frequently been favoured as a route for Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal. Although early hominins are known to have occupied Turkey, with numerous finds of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts documented, the chronology of their dispersal has little reliable stratigraphical or geochronological constraint, sites are rare, and the region's hominin history remains poorly understood as a result. Here, we present a Palaeolithic artefact, a hard-hammer flake, from fluvial sediments associated with the Early Pleistocene Gediz River of Western Turkey. This previously documented buried river terrace sequence provides a clear stratigraphical context for the find and affords opportunities for independent age estimation using the numerous basaltic lava flows that emanated from nearby volcanic necks and aperiodically encroached onto the contemporary valley floors. New 40Ar/39Ar age estimates from these flows are reported here which, together with palaeomagnetic measurements, allow a tightly-constrained chronology for the artefact-bearing sediments to be established. These results suggest that hominin occupation of the valley occurred within a time period spanning ∼1.24 Ma to ∼1.17 Ma, making this the earliest, securely-dated, record of hominin occupation in Anatolia.

English

In recent years, substantial evidence for the early human occupation of the Caucasus during the Quaternary (the last 2.58 million years) has emerged in the literature. The importance of this region for early hominin migration cannot be underestimated. Finds of Homo erectus (thought to be the first hominin to leave Africa), found close to the Georgian village of Dmanisi (see figure 1, over the page) and associated with volcanic deposits with age estimates of around 1.7–1.8 million years, have ignited debates around the topic of ‘the first Eurasians’ (Gabunia et al. 2000). Within Turkey, the oldest known hominin locality is that of Kocabas, in the Buyuk Menderes valley in western Anatolia, where fragments of a cranium, tentatively attributed to Homo erectus, have been found in travertine deposits dated to around 490–510 thousand years (Kappelman et al. 2008). However, earlier hominins are known to have occupied Turkey, as evidenced by finds of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts (Harmankaya, Tanindi 1996), but their chronology is often poorly constrained and the region generally remains poorly understood in terms of hominin dispersal. This three-year pilot project is designed to help initiate renewed efforts to investigate the record of hominin occupation and migration in Turkey. Specifically, we will investigate the environmental changes which provide the context for early hominin occupation in northeastern Turkey by exploiting the palaeoenvironmental archives contained within sedimentary records. Our study area, the upper catchment of the Kura river, spans the Turkish-Georgian border and lies within 100km of the hominin site of Dmanisi (see the maps over the page), and thus there is every reason to believe that hominins would have been present in the area, early in the Quaternary. The Kura river rises in northeastern Turkey and traverses the Lesser Caucasus mountain range, passing the TurkishGeorgian border en route, and ultimately flows through the Transcaucasus depression, through Georgia and on into Azerbaijan where it debouches into the Caspian Sea (see figure 1). The catchment spans a highly active tectonic zone. The mountain ranges of the Caucasus testify to the largescale continental collision (compressional tectonics) and uplift of the Arabian and Eurasian plates which started in the Oligocene (~ 34–23 million years ago) and continued into the Miocene (~ 23–5 million years ago). However, since the Middle Pliocene (~ the last four million years) the Lesser Caucasus and much of the east Anatolian plateau have been subjected to an extensional tectonic regime dominated by strike-slip faulting which has been accompanied by extensive alkali volcanism (Kocyigit et al. 2001). These transform motions have created a series of pull-apart basins which have subsequently filled with sediment (figure 2). More recently, some of these basins have experienced uplift, with active inversion of the basin fill sequences, forcing rivers to incise through their thick sedimentary fills, in response to the uplift. The Kura river, in our Turkish field area, traverses the still deepening (subsiding) Ardahan Basin, but also flows across areas where extensive river terrace sequences have formed in response to localised uplift (for example along the southern edges of the Hanak Basin). The development of this river system is complicated further by extensive localised faulting (normal and oblique, see figure 3), which often offsets river terraces, and the frequent incursion of basaltic lava flows into the developing valley floors from nearby eruption centres. C L I M AT E A N D I T S H I S T O R I C A L & C U R R E N T I M PA C T

Geomorphologic context and proposed chronostratigraphic position of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from the Op de Schans pit near Kesselt (Belgium) to the west of Maastricht

AbstractIn July 2007 an important archaeological find was made in the Op de Schans loess pit near Kesselt (Belgian Limburg) immediately to the west of the Dutch city of Maastricht. During an archaeological rescue dig, three Lower Palaeolithic artefacts were recovered from the infill of an ancient erosion gully: a bifacial side-scraper, an atypical biface and a cortical flake. Typologically, the artefacts can be classified as Acheulean. In this region, harbouring several such brickyard pits, these are the oldest artefacts yet found, prompting further investigations into the stratigraphic position of the archaeological layer. The Op de Schans pit, which has yielded several Middle Palaeolithic occupation horizons, is located in the middle of an ancient sediment trap. Because of this exceptional geomorphologic situation, multiple ancient sediments have been preserved which elsewhere were entirely removed during subsequent erosion phases. Here five separate loess beds with intercalated interglacial palaeosols are present, overlying the deposits of the River Maas (Meuse). This sequence has been used as a hypothetical framework for elaborating a chronostratigraphic model. The archaeological level in question, discovered at the base of a subsequently infilled erosion gully, can most likely be chronostratigraphically dated to around the start of Marine Isotope Stage 10 (MIS 10), in the era of the Pottenberg discordance (approx. 390 ka). However, the possibility cannot be excluded that the gully in which the artefacts were found dates from an early phase of MIS 12 (approx. 480 ka). The age may in fact be greater still, as the artefacts have been eroded out of their original, primary context and subsequently deposited in the gully. Hypothetically, they may even have been taken up from the Maas loam of the Kesselt Maas terrace (MIS 13) that here is situated directly below the archaeological horizon. This would make the maximum age of the artefacts recovered from the gully around 500 ka.

Luminescence dating of sediments from a Palaeolithic site associated with a solution feature on the North Downs of Kent, UK

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating has been applied to determine the burial age of sediment horizons within a sequence containing Lower Palaeolithic artefacts on an upland site associated with a solution feature (doline) at West Cliffe, located on the North Downs in Kent, UK. The study makes use of a novel extension of the single aliquot OSL measurement procedure to investigate the nature of significant overdispersion in equivalent dose values with very small aliquots of quartz inclusions, enabling single grain resolution to be approached with ∼90 μm diameter quartz extracted from the relatively fine-grained brickearth. A detailed examination of the uniformity of the distribution of radionuclide sources in the sampled volumes was also performed and this included the application of a spatially-resolved technique for beta dose rate measurement. The OSL ages, obtained for the burial of brickearth positioned stratigraphically below and above a clay and flint clast layer containing the artefacts and debitage, place the deposition of the artefacts to between ca 140 and 80 ka ago. This is significantly later than indicated by the artefact typology (>300 ka) and contrary to the expectation of in situ burial indicated by earlier research in this region. If displacement occurred on other upland sites this finding has important implications for establishing the timing of hominin use of the upland areas which, beyond broad attribution to Lower or Middle Palaeolithic origin, is uncertain and similar doubts apply to the interpretation of the environments that prevailed.

Recuperated optically stimulated luminescence dating of middle-size quartz grains from the Palaeolithic site of Bonneval (Eure-et-Loir, France)

The site of Bonneval (France) exhibits a 6 m thick stratigraphical sequence in which Middle and Lower Palaeolithic artefacts were discovered. The stratigraphy of the site consists of an alternation of loess-like silt layers deposited along glacial stages, and paleosoil horizons corresponding to the vegetal stabilization of the area during interglacials. These layers hence provide past environmental informations and can be used as stratigraphical markers and compared with well dated sequences of Northern France. Eight sediment samples from this Middle and Upper Pleistocene sequence were dated using the recuperated optically stimulated luminescence (Re-OSL) signal of quartz grains. The middle-size fraction (40–63 μm) shows a good reproducibility of the OSL signals which allows the application of a multiple-aliquot additive-dose approach for D e determination. For all samples, the growth curves are linear up to an accumulated dose of 3000 Gy. The Re-OSL ages range from ∼100 to ∼450 ka and are in good agreement with the independent chronological information; they establish when handaxe industries have been made during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in the Paris Basin.

Preliminary results of archaeological studies at the lower Paleolithic site of Darvagchai-1 in Dagestan

Until recently, few Paleolithic research projects have been carried out in Dagestan in the Caucasus. The fi rst information on Lower Paleolithic artifacts collected from the surface in the vicinity of the village of Gedjuh was provided by M.Z. Panichkina in the late 1930s. Later, V.G. Kotovich made an archaeological survey of this area in the 1950s (Kotovich, 1964). He identifi ed the artifacts recovered from the Chumus-Inits site as the earliest (Acheulian) implements despite the total absence of handaxes, the most typical tools of the Acheulian culture in the Caucasus, within the collection. However, handaxes were discovered at several sites, e.g., Diubekchai, Darvagchai-quarry, Chumus-Inits and Rubas-1, in 2005, and proved the existence of Acheulian industries in Dagestan (Derevianko, Amirkhanov, Zenin, Anoikin, 2005). In the course of surveys that were carried out from 2003 – 2006 by the Joint Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, the Institute of Archaeology RAS, and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS, more than twenty Paleolithic sites were discovered in the basins of the Darvagchai and Rubas Rivers in southeastern Dagestan (Derevianko, Amirkhanov, Zenin, Anoikin, Rybin, 2004; Amirkhanov,

Terrestrial implications for the maritime geoarchaeological resource: A view from the Lower Palaeolithic

Stone tools and faunal remains have been recovered from the English Channel and the North Sea through trawling, dredging for aggregates, channel clearance, and coring. These finds highlight the potential for a maritime Lower Palaeolithic archaeological resource. It is proposed here that any Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, faunal remains, and sediments deposited in the maritime zone during dry, low-stand phases were once (and may still be) contextually similar to their counterparts in the terrestrial Lower Palaeolithic records of north-western Europe. Given these similarities, can interpretive models and analytical frameworks developed for terrestrial archaeology be profitably applied to an assessment of the potential value of any maritime resource? The terrestrial geoarchaeological resource for the Lower Palaeolithic is dominated by artefacts and ecofacts that have been fluvially reworked. The spatio-temporal resolution of these data varies from entire river valleys and marine isotope stages to river channel gravel bar surfaces and decadal timescales, thus supporting a variety of questions and approaches. However, the structure of the terrestrial resource also highlights two fundamental limitations in current maritime knowledge that can restrict the application of terrestrial approaches to any potential maritime resource: (i) how have the repetitive transgressions and regressions of the Middle and Late Pleistocene modified the terrace landforms and sediments associated with the river systems of the English Channel and southern North Sea basins?; and (ii) do the surviving submerged terrace landforms and fluvial sedimentary deposits support robust geochronological models, as is the case with the classical terrestrial terrace sequences? This paper highlights potential approaches to these questions, and concludes that the fluvial palaeogeography, Pleistocene fossils, and potential Lower Palaeolithic artefacts of the maritime geoarchaeological resource can be profitably investigated in future as derived, low-resolution data sets, facilitating questions of colonisation, occupation, demography, and material culture.

The Hominid individual in context: archaeological investigations of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic landscapes, locales and artefacts

The Hominid individual in context: archaeological investigations of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic landscapes, locales and artefacts

A Lower Palaeolithic industry from the Cromerian (MIS 13) Baginton Formation of Waverley Wood and Wood Farm Pits, Bubbenhall, Warwickshire, UK

AbstractArtefacts of Cromerian (MIS 13) age recovered from extensions to the classic site of Waverley Wood Farm Pit, Warwickshire, give new insights into the Lower Palaeolithic and Pleistocene geological record of the English Midlands. The Baginton Formation in the area to the south and southwest of Coventry has been the major source of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in the Midlands since the first discoveries in the 1930s. Current sand and gravel workings at Waverley Wood and Wood Farm Pits near the village of Bubbenhall, have provided artefacts of quartzite, andesite and flint together with sparse large mammal material. Some of the Lower Palaeolithic finds were in situ in the succession providing, for the first time, firm evidence of their geological provenance. The variety and number of the artefacts allows detailed evaluation of the largest group of Lower Palaeolithic tools to be found in the West Midlands. The petrology of some of the tools and associated clasts in the gravels at the base of the Baginton Formation allow speculation on the origin of the rock types from northwest and eastern England which may have been brought to the West Midlands by a pre‐Anglian glaciation or just possibly by human transport. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

“15 Minutes of Fame”: Exploring the temporal dimension of Middle Pleistocene lithic technology

This paper addresses the spatial and temporal dimensions of knapping routines through analysis of refit data. Many reconstructions of lithic tool production utilising refit data concentrate upon ‘how’ a piece of stone is taken apart, and less often consider the ‘when’ and ‘where’. Lower Palaeolithic artefacts are frequently viewed as belonging to simplistic technical systems in which tools were made and used as and when required, showing little temporal depth. Modern knappers can replicate the components of the Acheulean toolkit, such as a biface, in around 15 minutes. The predominant use of local raw materials and the relatively simple reduction sequences observed on many Middle Pleistocene sites has given rise to the view that Acheulean hominins possessed an immediate approach to technology, and that artefacts did not stay in the technological system very long. In contrast, other researchers have stressed the increased planning abilities of hominins in relation to their stone tool-making and using routines. Increased planning abilities are often cited as a diagnostic feature of modern human cognition. As such, tracing the emergence of these abilities is an important avenue of research in human evolution. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the process of lithic production was organised on several Middle Pleistocene sites in northwest Europe. By comparing refitting sequences from several primary context sites, the different stages of reduction present at these locations can be reconstructed. Since refit sets record the work carried out in one place and time by an individual, they can be used to reconstruct the spatial and temporal dimension of these past technological activities. The analysis shows fragmentation of reduction sequences was a common occurrence, suggesting a more dynamic approach to tool-making and using activities than has previously been recognised. The analysis provides a description of these artefact dynamics, and discusses the underlying cognitive mechanisms of this behaviour.

J. E. Scoot-Jackson. Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts from deposits mapped as Clay-with-fints: a new synthesis with significant implications for the earliest occupation of Britain. ix+180 pages, 79 figures, 15 tables. 2000. Oxford: Oxbow; 1-84217-005-8 paperback £30.

J. E. Scoot-Jackson. Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts from deposits mapped as Clay-with-fints: a new synthesis with significant implications for the earliest occupation of Britain. ix+180 pages, 79 figures, 15 tables. 2000. Oxford: Oxbow; 1-84217-005-8 paperback £30.

Exploitation d'un grand cétacé au Paléolithique ancien : le site de Dungo V à Baia Farta (Benguela, Angola)

Abstract The almost complete skeleton of a large whale ( Balaenoptera sp.) was found closely associated with 57 Lower Palaeolithic artefacts near Baia Farta (Benguela, Angola), at an altitude of 65 m, 3 km from the present shoreline. It constitutes the oldest evidence of the exploitation of a stranded whale by Palaeolithic people.

History of the sedimentary infilling of Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey

Yarimburgaz is a double cave with slightly offset upper and lower entrance chambers, connected laterally inside the cave. Below Byzantine and modern debris, the upper cave encloses Chalcolithic to Upper Paleolithic occupations above a beach sand attributed to the Last Interglacial. Below the beach sand, strongly modified sediments contain sparse Lower Paleolithic artifacts. The lower cave preserves only Lower Paleolithic industries, but with abundant cave bear and other fauna. Lower cave sediments (.5 m thick) comprise a lower, barren section of decalcification clays interfingering with alluvial fine sands, small gravel and rounded pebbles from the cave interior, and isolated limestone blocks from the cave ceiling. These sediments have been strongly affected by secondary phosphatization that fills vugs, cements the sediments, and produces thick reaction rinds on the large blocks. The upper 2 m of the fill becomes more rocky as the evidence of human and bear utilization of the cave becomes prominent. No habitation structures or hearths were detected in the lower cave. ESR and uranium-series dating suggests an age between .160 and 390 ka for the lower cave occupations. Apparently the cave was wide open to the exterior at that time. The final phase of filling was characterized by abundant angular limestone blocks, suggestive of earthquake disturbance. © 1997

Diring Yuriakh: A Lower Paleolithic Site in Central Siberia

Lower Paleolithic artifacts have been recovered from a single occupation surface within stratified deposits at Diring Yuriakh, an archaeological site in central Siberia. Thermoluminescence age estimates from eolian sediments indicate that the cultural horizon is greater than 260,000 years old. Diring Yuriakh is an order of magnitude older than documented Paleolithic sites in Siberia and is important for understanding the timing of human expansion into the far north, early adaptations to cold climates, and the peopling of the Americas.