Stephens, M., Hopkinson, T. and Cooper, L. (2010). Middle Devensian sediments at Sandy Quarry and speculation on the provenance of a handaxe find. Bedfordshire Archaeology Volume 26 2010. Vol 26, Bedfordshire Archaeological Council. pp. 5-10.
 Title The title of the publication or report |
Middle Devensian sediments at Sandy Quarry and speculation on the provenance of a handaxe find | ||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Bedfordshire Archaeology Volume 26 2010 | ||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Bedfordshire Archaeology | ||
Volume Volume number and part |
26 | ||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
5 - 10 | ||
Downloads Any files associated with the publication or report that can be downloaded from the ADS |
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Licence Type ADS, CC-BY 4.0 or CC-BY 4.0 NC. |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International Licence |
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Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | ||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
This paper reports the recent find of a flat-butted cordate (or ‘bout coupé’) hand-axe on a reject heap at Sandy Quarry, a sand and gravel quarry near the River Ivel. Hand-axes of this type are typically found either in undatable surface contexts, or in Middle Palaeolithic sites associated with Neanderthal activity in Britain during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; 59,000–27,000 years BP). Neanderthals were the sole human occupants of Britain for perhaps the first twenty-five millennia of this period. This find therefore adds to the growing knowledge of Neanderthal activity and its extent in southern lowland Britain before the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum. Previous studies of the Middle Devensian sediments at Sandy Quarry were made by Gao et al. (1998), who dated organics that occurred below and within the lower part of the main body of sand and gravel at ~30,000 years BP, which is a broadly similar timeframe to that of inferred Neanderthal activity in southern Britain. Newly exposed sections at Sandy Quarry reveal a broadly similar sequence of Middle Devensian sediments as previously found, with the major exception being far more extensive organic and silty sediments below the main body of sand and gravel that are indicative of a large backswamp area. Such an environmental setting was found at Lynford Quarry in Norfolk, the Neanderthal Middle Palaeolithic butchery site where forty-seven such hand-axes were excavated. The hand-axe from Sandy Quarry was found to be in a fresh condition with relatively sharp edges and minimal damage, which indicates that the hand-axe had not been transported a great distance by fluvial action and was possibly deposited in the low energy backswamp area of the ancient floodplain. | ||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2010 | ||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
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Source Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in. |
ADS Archive
(ADS Archive)
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Relations Other resources which are relevant to this publication or report |
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
28 Apr 2023 |
