Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of the Fenland Rivers of Cambridgeshire
Durham University, 2010. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000113. How to cite using this DOI
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This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Cambridgeshire County Council
Box ELH 1108
Shire Hall
Cambridge
CB3 0AP
UK
Tel: 01223 728565
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 985
- ALSF Project Number: 5266
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000113
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
The modern county of Cambridgeshire falls between two areas with strikingly different records of early human occupation. To the north and west are the East Midlands, where Palaeolithic archaeology is relatively rare and poorly understood; to the south and east lies East Anglia, one of the richest Palaeolithic landscapes in Europe, which includes the site of Pakefield where the oldest known human evidence anywhere in Northern Europe was recently discovered. Cambridgeshire itself has produced a diverse Palaeolithic record dating back c.500,000 years and is an important area for researchers interested in linking the archaeological and geological records in the Midlands and East Anglia.
Compared to its neighbouring counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, however, Cambridgeshire has received little attention from researchers in recent years. The Fenland Rivers of Cambridgeshire Palaeolithic Project (FRCPP) was therefore initiated in 2007 as a short research project to examine the Palaeolithic and Quaternary evidence from the county. The FRCPP was funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) as a collaborative project between the University of Durham, Cambridgeshire County Council and the University of Cambridge.
The project had two main interests:
- the collections of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic stone tools held by various museums and private collectors;
- the ancient deposits of the major rivers flowing across the Cambridgeshire Fenland towards the Wash (the Great Ouse and Nene, as well as important tributaries such as the Cam) from which most of these artefacts were recovered.
The sands and gravels deposited by rivers are an important economic resource and are intensively quarried throughout Cambridgeshire. They are also the source of most of the evidence for Palaeolithic settlement and Quaternary climate. An important aspect of the project was therefore to provide as much information as possible about the potential for Palaeolithic and Quaternary material to be preserved with gravel deposits, so that planners can advise quarrying companies.
The Digital Archive
The digital archive (available from the downloads page) currently contains several key outputs, including a gazetteer of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites in Cambridgshire; a project bibliography; and a project report/booklet:
- White, T. S., Boreham, S., Bridgland, D. R., Gdaniec, K. and White, M. J. (2008) The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of Cambridgeshire.
