Lithics 16

Updated overview of the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic periods, focusing mainly on the opening stage of the Lower Palaeolithic. For British Palaeolithic archaeologists, the principal changes over the past fifteen years include a substantially altered understanding of the British Pleistocene sequence, the discovery of several major new sites, and important reinterpretations of old ones on the basis of new fieldwork. New information has also been extracted from assemblages through the application of new techniques or approaches, and comparable advances have been made by specialists in other fields of Quaternary research. The article considers mainly what has been learned from the excavation or re-excavation of sites in Britain, and is necessarily highly selective; two particularly important sites are Boxgrove and High Lodge. LD

Although the Pleistocene deposits of the Little Thurrock area in Grays, Essex, are well known, faunal remains and lithic material having been recovered in the 19th century, little interest in the artefacts was shown by early workers; this is attributed to the absence of bifaces within the assemblage. Between 1959 and 1964 the author collected 288 artefacts consisting of core and flake material from a series of sections exposed at the Celcon Works; after examination these were described by J Wymer as Clactonian. On re-examining the assemblage recently, the author identified what he now perceived to be two bifaces of non-classic form and two biface thinning flakes. These are described and illustrated here. The raw materials of the assemblage as a whole are also noted, and the stratigraphic context is described. The author concludes with the question, 'Can this site still be regarded as Clactonian?' LD

Describes the recent butchery of a roe deer carcass using replica flint handaxes, undertaken as part of a wider investigation into Lower Palaeolithic handaxe function. The primary functions of experiments within the study are to produce use-wear traces for comparison with traces seen on archaeological implements, and to discover how practical and efficient the implements are in accomplishing tasks likely to have been carried out in the Lower Palaeolithic. The study centres on material from Boxgrove in West Sussex; a large amount of the flint material at this site is in situ, and preliminary analysis and contextual evidence suggest the use of handaxes as butchery tools. For the present experiment an experienced butcher was enlisted to skin, bone and joint the meat from the deer carcass. Some detailed observations on the butcher's findings and experience in relation to the tools are recounted. Preliminary results from analysis of the replica implements indicate that the clear traces formed during the experiment are very similar to those recorded on a growing number of handaxes from Boxgrove. LD