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: | Middle Devensian sediments at Sandy Quarry and speculation on the provenance of a handaxe find | ||
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| Issue: | Bedfordshire Archaeology Volume 26 2010 | ||
| Series: | Bedfordshire Archaeology | ||
| Volume: | 26 | ||
| Page Start/End: | 5 - 10 | ||
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| Licence Type: |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International Licence |
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| Publication Type: | Journal | ||
| Abstract: | 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: | 2010 | ||
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| Source: |
ADS Archive
(ADS Archive)
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| Created Date: | 28 Apr 2023 |
