British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Handaxe Groups

Roe, Derek

doi:10.1017/s0079497x00013840

Cited by 183 publications

(219 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

212

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the culture-historical approaches of the first half of the last century (McNabb, 1996;Trigger, 1989) the fossil directeur approach focused on assemblage best. After the collapse of culture history, post-second world war, the whole assemblage approach was pioneered by Bordes (Bordes, 1961) and expanded on by others (Isaac, 1977;Roe, 1964Roe, , 1968. Recently the assemblage best approach has been revived as British archaeologists have tried to link specific handaxe types with the changes in the bio-tidal ebb-and-flow of hominin populations over the English Channel across the Middle Pleistocene.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

McNabb

Cole

Hoggard

2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Acheulean is defined by its iconic tool type, the handaxe, and a suite of other large cutting tools (LCTs). These tools retain information on technical and procedural practices concerned with the manufacture of these butchery tools and carcass processing knives. The Acheulean straddles the period in which more ancient hominin species (H. erectus and H. heidelbergensis) give way to archaic H. sapiens (sensu lato) amongst whom the ancestor of modern humans may be found. The roots of modern behaviour may be present in these handaxe making hominin species, and the handaxes themselves, through proxy data such as bilateral symmetry, may chart hominin cognitive evolution as researchers such as T. Wynn and F. Coolidge (2016), amongst others, have argued. But the search for the earliest consistent application of symmetry, and its persistence thereafter has been hampered by the lack of large datasets, spanning the temporal extent of the Acheulean, and analysed through a single consistent methodology.Our paper has two aims. The first, and in the absence of a large comparative data set of earlier Acheulean handaxes, is to assess the degree to which symmetry is consistently applied to the making of handaxes in the later Acheulean (=<0.5 mya), a time when bilateral planform symmetry should already be an integral component in handaxe making. The dataset we select is the British Acheulean from MIS 13 -MIS 3/4. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time handaxe symmetry has been assessed on a large body of British Acheulean handaxes. Our second aim is to present a relatively simple and low tech methodology for the analysis of handaxes

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

McNabb

Cole

Hoggard

2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, in the western Solent sequence, the Setley Plain/Mount Pleasant pair of terraces, which are the highest to contain artefacts, are attributed by both Bridgland (2001) and Westaway et al (in press) to MIS 13/12. The Old Milton Gravel, which contains an assemblage at Barton-on-Sea with a moderate presence (8%) of twisted ovates (Roe, 1968), is attributed to MIS 11 by Bridgland (2001) and MIS 10 by Westaway et al (in press; Table 1). Allen and Gibbard's (1993) Taddiford Farm Gravel, which is reported to contain Levalloisian material (Wessex Archaeology, 1993) is attributed to MIS 9/8 by Bridgland (2001).…”

Section: The Western Solent Fluvial Sequencementioning

confidence: 99%

An optically stimulated luminescence dated Middle to Late Pleistocene fluvial sequence from the western Solent Basin, southern England

Briant

Bates

Schwenninger

et al. 2006

J Quaternary Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents numerical dating from a Middle to Late Pleistocene terrace deposit sequence in the Solent Basin, southern England. The sequence from the western part of the former Solent river system is one of the longest in Britain, with 18 mapped terrace aggradations. A set of 23 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates aim to provide dated tie-points within the lower part of the sequence at five stratotype locations. These dates are replicated at single sites, providing age estimates for fewer members, but increasing the reliability for those members that have been dated. The results provide two reliably dated tie-points within the sequence and suggest that (i) the lowest six terrace aggradations all postdate ca. 275 kyr (MIS 8), (ii) terraces may have aggraded during cold phases within the penultimate interglacial (MIS 7) and (iii) the interglacial deposits at Stone Point whose age has previously been contested are likely to be of Ipswichian (last interglacial, MIS 5e) age. These findings are compared to previous age models in the western Solent basin, with which they agree in part. They may suggest that fluvial activity in the Solent was particularly dynamic during MIS 7.

show abstract

“…Major changes occurred in the mid-twentieth century with the appearance of quantification and statistical descriptions of assemblages (e.g., Bordes 1950Bordes , 1961Roe 1969) and the BNew Archaeology^paradigm (e.g., Binford 1973;Clarke 1968). Emphasis shifted from observations of the archeological record to attempt to understand the processes underlying its formation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Lithics and Fauna a Match Made in (Prehistoric) Heaven?

Hovers

Belfer‐Cohen

2018

J Paleo Arch

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lithic artifacts and animal bones form the bulk of the material remains of the Paleolithic. This has led archeologists to interpret these two types of finds as tethered components of subsistence systems. Differences observed through time and space in the lithic repertoire were considered as functional adjustments, designed to maximize gains from a diverse faunal resource base. While we do not challenge the general notion that lithic artifacts were used (also) for exploiting faunal (and other) resources, we note that significant lithic technological breakthroughs, clearly directed towards higher efficiency of procurement of faunal resources (e.g., hafting, projectile weapons), are few and far-apart in the evolution of material culture. Based on case studies from the Levantine Middle Paleolithic (MP), we question the degree to which fauna-based subsistence determined lithic variability. Current research focus on functional relationship between lithics and fauna may preclude consideration of other causes for lithic typo-technological diversity. These may include technological traditions, differences in cultural transmission processes, or the level of within-and between-group connectivity, various combinations of which may have operated in the MP.

show abstract

British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Handaxe Groups

Cited by 183 publications

References 25 publications

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

From side to side: Symmetry in handaxes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

An optically stimulated luminescence dated Middle to Late Pleistocene fluvial sequence from the western Solent Basin, southern England

Are Lithics and Fauna a Match Made in (Prehistoric) Heaven?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About