Lithics 24

Interim report on archaeological and geological investigations that took place at Wansunt Pit SSSI, Dartford, Kent, in advance of housing development. A summary is provided of the Palaeolithic artefacts recovered, and in particular of the discovery of refitting artefacts from the Wansunt Loam.

The paper describes the find of a flint handaxe in an unexpected context at Linch Hill, Stanton Harcourt, prompting the development of a new model to explain the occurrence of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in Devensian gravels. The presence of a flat area (or méplat) on the side of the handaxe is discussed and a wider study of this feature is suggested. The significance of this find, and others, coming from areas distant from lithic raw material sources, is discussed in terms of Lower Palaeolithic occupation strategies in central Britain.

In a paper originally given as a lecture at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, on 30th June 2004, to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Lithic Studies Society, the author looks at the history of lithic studies from early antiquarian research up to the present day.

The paper reviews extant methodologies used to describe biface physical condition, emphasising the value of both quantitative arête recording techniques and the consideration of the état physique of the entire biface. Major findings from a programme of flume-based biface transportation and modification experiments are presented, demonstrating that gross factors of artefact morphology influence transportation type, and that, in turn, transportation type influences the character and distribution of damage sustained. It is argued that the data generated from these experiments can be used as the basis for modelling the type and duration of fluvial transportation secondary context bifaces have sustained, facilitating assessment of the spatial intensity of hominid activity associated with fluvial Palaeolithic findspots.

Report on a conference held at King's Lynn, Norfolk in April 2004, aimed at providing a forum for discussion on a range of flint tool manufacturing techniques and lithic technology, and at highlighting the continuing development of lithic and replication studies in the British Isles.