Pleistocene and Palaeolithic Geoarchaeology
In Britain, the Palaeolithic (’Old Stone Age’) spans the period from 900,000 to 11,700 years ago. While often chance finds, archaeological discoveries from this era have frequently proven to be of both huge scientific importance and of great public interest. Together with accompanying geological and biological evidence, they tell us about such human aspects as evolution, colonisation, stone tool technology and subsistence. Another important element is the often very different climates and environments of the Pleistocene geological epoch, ca 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, the period of the most recent repeated glaciations commonly known as the Ice Age.
Investigation of the Palaeolithic/Pleistocene periods relies on geological approaches and techniques. Because of the nature of the remains, it is carried out in a rather different way from studies of later periods. Palaeolithic archaeological sites usually comprise scatters of stone artefacts, sometimes accompanied by animal and (in very exceptional cases) human bone. Archaeological features are extremely rare and ephemeral. Given such circumstances, conventional means of archaeological prospection are not ideally suited to finding such remains, but geoarchaeological methods such as drilling boreholes, digging test pits and using specialised geophysical techniques can predict the likelihood of Palaeolithic remains being preserved.
ARCA has particular specialist expertise in investigating Pleistocene stratigraphy, including that containing Palaeolithic archaeology, and we have published extensively on the subject (see below). Indeed, ARCA has contributed to the development of Historic England’s draft guidelines on investigating the Palaeolithic and has conducted a project on behalf of HE to predict where Palaeolithic sites are most likely to occur (find out more on the Historic England website.
Key Publications
Image: Prof. Keith Wilkinson unearthing a Pleistocene mammoth tusk.