Canterbury suburbs were home to some of Britain’s earliest humans, 600,000-year-old finds reveal
Archaeological discoveries made on the outskirts of Canterbury, Kent (England) confirm the presence of early humans in southern Britain between 560,000 and 620,000 years ago, making it one of the earliest known Palaeolithic sites in northern Europe.
探花直播breakthrough, involving controlled excavations and radiometric dating, comes a century after stone tool artefacts were first uncovered at the site.
探花直播research, led by archaeologists at the 探花直播 of Cambridge, confirms that Homo heidelbergensis, an ancestor of Neanderthals, occupied southern Britain in this period (when it was still attached to Europe) and gives tantalizing evidence hinting at some of the earliest animal hide processing in European prehistory.
Located in an ancient riverbed, the Canterbury site was originally discovered in the 1920s when local labourers unearthed artefacts known as handaxes (most now in the British Museum), but by applying modern dating techniques to new excavations their age has finally been determined.
Led by Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology, the recent excavations have not only dated the original site but also identified new flint artefacts, including the very first ‘scrapers’ to be discovered there.
探花直播researchers have dated these stone tool artefacts using infrared-radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating, a technique which determines the point at which feldspar sand-grains were last exposed to sunlight, and thereby establishing when they were buried.
探花直播study, published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science, points out that early humans are known to have been present in Britain from as early as 840,000, and potentially 950,000 years ago, but that these early visits were fleeting.
Cold glacial periods repeatedly drove populations out of northern Europe, and until now there was only limited evidence of Britain being recolonised during the warm period between 560,000 and 620,000 years before present. Several sites in Suffolk are believed to display tools from this time, but these artefacts come from contexts where accurate dating methods are difficult to use.
“This is one of the wonderful things about this site in Kent”, says Dr Tobias Lauer from the 探花直播 of Tübingen in Germany, who led the dating of the new site.
“ 探花直播artefacts are precisely where the ancient river placed them, meaning we can say with confidence that they were made before the river moved to a different area of the valley.”
Dr Alastair Key from the 探花直播 of Cambridge, who directed the excavation, says: “ 探花直播diversity of tools is fantastic. In the 1920s, the site produced some of earliest handaxes ever discovered in Britain.
“Now, for the first time, we have found rare evidence of scraping and piercing implements at this very early age”.
Students taking part in the excavation. Image: Department of Archaeology, 探花直播 of Cambridge
Students taking part in the excavation. Image: Department of Archaeology, 探花直播 of Cambridge
Handaxe artefact. Image: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge
Handaxe artefact. Image: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge
A selection of handaxes discovered in the 1920s. Image: authors of the research
A selection of handaxes discovered in the 1920s. Image: authors of the research
Homo heidelbergensis was a hunter gatherer known to eat diverse animal and plant foods, meaning that many of the tools may have been used to process animal carcasses, potentially deer, horse, rhino and bison; as well as tubers and other plants.
Evidence of this can be seen in the sharp-edged flake and handaxe tools present at the site. 探花直播presence of scraping and piercing implements, however, suggest other activities may have been undertaken.
Image: An artist's reconstruction of Homo heidelbergensis making a flint handaxe. (Department of Archaeology, 探花直播 of Cambridge. Illustration by Gabriel Ugueto).
Dr Tomos Proffitt from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, who analysed the artefacts, said: “Scrapers, during the Palaeolithic, are often associated with animal hide preparation. Finding these artefacts may therefore suggest that people during this time were preparing animal hides, possibly for clothing or shelters.
“ 探花直播range of stone tools, not only from the original finds, but also from our new smaller excavations suggest that hominins living in what was to become Britain, were thriving and not just surviving.”
A selection of flint artefacts excavated at the site. Image: authors of the research
A selection of flint artefacts excavated at the site. Image: authors of the research
At the time, Britain was not an island but instead represented the north-western peninsular of the European continent. This allowed individuals to move around a much larger landscape than the current Kent coastline allows, with the site potentially only being visited during warmer summer months.
Dr Matthew Skinner from the 探花直播 of Kent, who helped lead the excavation said: “There is so much left to discover about these populations. In particular we are hoping in future excavations to find skeletal remains of the individuals who produced these stone tools as these are very rare in Britain.”
A fossil skull cast of Homo heidelbergensis (not found at the site). Image: Giuseppe Castelli (Department of Archaeology, 探花直播 of Cambridge)
A fossil skull cast of Homo heidelbergensis (not found at the site). Image: Giuseppe Castelli (Department of Archaeology, 探花直播 of Cambridge)
Further work at the site is planned and it is expected that additional insights into the behaviour of these early humans will be made. 探花直播team hopes the council will recognise the value of the city’s internationally important prehistoric heritage, and ensure the site is protected for future generations.
It is thought that European populations of Homo heidelbergensis evolved into Neanderthals while a separate population of Homo heidelbergensis in Africa evolved into Homo sapiens.
A collection of footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk dated to 840,000 or 950,000 years ago, currently represent the oldest evidence of hominins occupying Britain.
Reference
A. Key et al., ‘’, Royal Society Open Science (2022). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211904
Published: 22nd June 2022
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