Lynford Quarry

Norfolk Archaeological Unit, English Heritage, Northamptonshire Archaeology, 2016. https://doi.org/10.5284/1039453. How to cite using this DOI

Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1039453
Sample Citation for this DOI

Norfolk Archaeological Unit, English Heritage, Northamptonshire Archaeology (2016) Lynford Quarry [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1039453

Data copyright © Historic England unless otherwise stated

This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Creative Commons License


Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund logo
Historic England logo

Primary contact

Historic England
1 Waterhouse Square
138-142 Holborn
London
EC1N 2ST
UK
Tel: 01793 414700
Fax: 01793 414707

Send e-mail enquiry

Resource identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1039453
Sample Citation for this DOI

Norfolk Archaeological Unit, English Heritage, Northamptonshire Archaeology (2016) Lynford Quarry [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1039453

Norfolk Archaeological Unit logo
Northamptonshire Archaeology logo

Introduction

Lynford Quarry
In spring 2002 mammoth bones and associated Mousterian stone tools were found in situ at Lynford Quarry, near Munford village, Norfolk, UK. The finds were within the organic sediments of a palaeochannel. Excavation was undertaken with support from Ayton Asphalte, the quarry owners, and English Heritage, funded through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ASLF). These finds are a rare example of British Middle Palaeolithic tools, associated with the Neanderthal occupation of what was then a peninsula of north-west Europe. The excavation recovered exceptionally well-preserved archaeological and palaeoenvironmental information. The association of woolly mammoth bones with bout- coupé handaxes (bifaces) and this wealth of palaeoenvironmental data provided a unique opportunity to investigate questions of diet, land use and habitat from deposits within a small geological feature. The palaeoenvironmental evidence and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating show that the site was occupied c 65-57ka, at the transition between Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 4 and 3. The plant and invertebrate remains indicate open conditions dominated by grasses, sedges and low-growing herbaceous communities, with small stands of birch or scrub, and areas of acid heath or bog, and a mild climate. Finds included 1,365 identified bones, of which 91 per cent are woolly mammoth; and 2,720 lithic pieces, including 41 complete and 6 broken handaxes, and 20 flake tools. In addition, an associated sandstone block bears use traces made by a softer material, possibly wood, and was possibly used as a fire striker. The Lynford finds give a rare opportunity to study the socioecology of Neanderthals and the relationship between their social structure and the distribution of resources in the landscape during the last cold stage of Ice Age Europe.

ADS logo
Data Org logo
University of York logo