Integrated chronological control on an archaeologically significant Pleistocene river terrace sequence: the Thames-Medway, eastern Essex, England

Late Middle Pleistocene Thames-Medway deposits in eastern Essex comprise both large expanses of Palaeolithic artefact-bearing river sands/gravels and deep channels infilled with thick sequences of fossiliferous fine-grained estuarine sediments that yield valuable palaeoenvironmental information. Until recently, chronological control on these deposits was limited to terrace stratigraphy and limited amino-acid racemisation (AAR) determinations. Recent developments in both this and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating make them potentially powerful tools for improving the chronological control on such sequences. This paper reports new AAR analyses and initial OSL dating from the deposits in this region. These results will help with ongoing investigation of patterns of early human settlement. Using AAR, the attribution by previous workers of the interglacial channel deposits to both MIS 11 (Tillingham Clay) and MIS 9 (Rochford and Shoeburyness Clays) is reinforced. Where there are direct stratigraphic relationships between AAR and OSL as with the Cudmore Grove and Rochford Clays and associated gravels, they agree well. Where OSL dating is the only technique available, it seems to replicate well, but must be treated with caution since there are relatively few aliquots. It is suggested on the basis of this initial OSL dating that the gravel deposits date from MIS 8 (Rochford and Cudmore Grove Gravels) and potentially also MIS 6 (Dammer Wick and Barling Gravels). However, the archaeological evidence from the Barling Gravel and the suggested correlations between this sequence and upstream Thames terraces conflict with this latter age estimate and suggest that it may need more investigation

Paleolithic archaeology at the Swan Valley Community School, Swanscombe, Kent

This paper reports on the recovery of Palaeolithic flint artefacts and faunal remains from fluvial gravels at the base of a sequence of Pleistocene sediments revealed during construction works at two sites to the south of Swanscombe village. Although outside the mapped extent of the Boyn Hill/Orsett Formation, the newly discovered deposits can be firmly correlated with the Middle Gravels and Upper Loam from the Barnfield Pit sequence dating to c. 400,000-380,000 BP. This increases greatly the known extent of these deposits, one horizon of which produced the Swanscombe Skull, and has provided more information on their upper part.Comparison of the lithic assemblages from volume-controlled sieving with those from general monitoring demonstrated that artefact collections formed without controlled methods of recovery, such as form the majority of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic archaeological record, are likely to be disproportionately dominated by larger, more visible and more collectable neatly made handaxes to the detriment of more poorly made, asymmetrical handaxes and cores, flakes and percussors. The lithic assemblage from the fluvial gravel was confirmed as dominated by pointed handaxes, supporting previous studies of artefacts from the equivalent Lower Middle Gravel at Barnfield Pit. The raw material characteristics of the assemblage were investigated, and it was concluded that there was no indication that the preference for pointed shapes could be related to either the shape or source of raw material.This paper also reviews the significance of lithic assemblages from disturbed fluvial contexts, and concludes that, contrary to some current perspectives, they have a valuable role to play complementing less disturbed evidence in developing understanding of the Palaeolithic

The Southfleet Road Elephant Butchery Site

Full monograph on archaeology, geology and environmental and dating studies of the elephant butchery site discovered in 2003 during construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at Ebbsfleet, north Ken

Prehistoric Ebbsfleet: excavations and research in advance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Full monograph on Palaeolithic/Pleistocene investigations in Ebbsfleet Valley before construction of Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Focuses on development of modern landscape, context of Levalloisian finds, and refinement of understanding of distinctive faunal assemblages of different sub-stages of Marine Isotope 7

Solent river gravels at Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire SZ 230 930

The fluvial gravels at Barton-on-Sea are important for two reasons: the possibility that they are associated with a minimally disturbed handaxe horizon including a significant proportion of twisted ovates, and their antiquity. OSL dating from this site is not without its problems, as discussed above. Nonetheless it is suggested that deposition of this unit dates to between 332 and 410 ka (MIS 9-11). However, contra to recent suggestions, it is not possible to relate any of the gravel terraces in the vicinity of Barton-on-Sea to a twisted ovate handaxe industry. The debate over the date of these gravels, and of other gravel formations westwards towards Milford-on-Sea, and indeed in the Western Solent system as a whole, could be substantially advanced if the source, or sources, of any distinct Palaeolithic industries could be identified, and further well-provenanced assemblages of reasonable size recovere

The end of the Acheulian late lower Palaeolithic occupation at Cuxton, Kent (UK)

OSL dating of this major site has produced a surprisingly recent result. This result is presented, and the occupational evidence is discussed in relation to other sites of similar dates, which divide into different technological types, raising the Q of whether technological output of a single occupational network is varied, or whether this variability reflects isolated occupations by culturally distinct communitie

Middle Pleistocene molluscan and ostracod faunas from Allhallows, Kent, UK

Although known from the nineteenth century, the terraces of the Medway have been far less frequently described in the literature than those of the Thames. In particular, the well known fossiliferous occurrences of such sites as Swanscombe, Purfleet and Aveley have no counterpart in the Medway, despite the two rivers forming part of the same basin. Here we describe molluscan and ostracod faunas of Middle Pleistocene age from Allhallows, Kent close to the modern confluence of the two rivers, which begin to allow correlation of the Medway terraces with the better known Thames succession