Geology and geomorphology of the Palaeolithic site at High Lodge, Mildenhall, Suffolk, England

Abstract

Summary The geology of the High Lodge site at Mildenhall is described and re-interpreted as a sequence of deposits related to a doline formed in the underlying Chalk. Doline development in the area is considered in detail. Lacustrine sediments filling the depression contain a Palaeolithic industry and pollen assemblages that indicate contemporaneous coniferous woodland. The High Lodge sequence, at the northern end of the Warren Hill ridge, is related to the Three Hills site at the southern end of the ridge and to recent exposures near the Beech Clump, midway on the ridge. The geology of the three sites combines to demonstrate a series of ice-marginal proglacial successions along the west and south side of the Warren Hill ridge, marking a glacial limit. This Skertchly Line limit, on the eastern flank of the Fenland, resulted from the Tottenhill ice advance into Fenland late in the Wolstonian Stage ( c . 160 ka; during Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 6). Structural evidence indicates that the doline filling was initially thrust glaciotectonically by the glacial ice. These sediments were subsequently disturbed by diapirism arising from loading by meltwater deposits and possibly by periglacial processes. The doline strata predate the ice advance and represent a period of cool temperate vegetation, probably of interstadial character, earlier in the Wolstonian, during MIS 7. The High Lodge Palaeolithic industry is associated with this cool temperate period, not with pre-Anglian times as formerly proposed. At Three Hills, artefacts occur within the proglacial deposits and are reworked from an earlier period. The geomorphology of the Warren Hill ridge is described and an interpretation of the ice front presented. The relation of the area to the wider Fenland landscape development is discussed.

Evidence for late Middle Pleistocene glaciation of the British margin of the southern North Sea

“…The debate has been complicated by the inclusion of sediments at sites such as Warren Hill, High Lodge, Lakenheath, Feltwell and Shouldham Thorpe (Fig. ), all of which have long‐standing association with the pre‐Anglian Bytham River (Bridgland and Lewis, ; Lee et al ., ; Westaway, ), within a more widespread glacial outwash system, dated ‘Late Wolstonian’ or MIS 6 (Gibbard and Clark, ; Gibbard et al ., ,b, 2013; West et al ., ). This suggestion of extensive late Middle Pleistocene glacial outwash has been refuted by Bridgland et al .…”

Drainage network reorganization affecting the Nene and Welland catchments of eastern England as a result of a late Middle Pleistocene glacial advance

“…The latter is securely dated to MIS 6. Both deposits therefore may provide support for the ice advance on the eastern side of the Fen Basin proposed by Gibbard et al (2009 and West, Gibbard, Boreham, and Rolfe (2014). The temporal and spatial grouping of the deposits investigated by F I G U R E 1 4 (a) Schematic stratigraphical log of the sedimentary successions at King's Dyke Quarry (Whittlesey) and (b) Sutton Cross (Langford, 1999;Langford, Bateman, et al, 2004;Langford, Keen, et al, 2004).…”

“…Both deposits therefore may provide support for the ice advance on the eastern side of the Fen Basin proposed by Gibbard et al. (, , ) and West, Gibbard, Boreham, and Rolfe (). The temporal and spatial grouping of the deposits investigated by Gibbard and co‐workers must remain tentative, however, as the OSL dates provided lack the essential processing data required for robust chronostratigraphic interpretation, and this remains the case for their most recent publication (Gibbard, West, & Hughes, ).…”

Human occupation of northern Europe in MIS 13: Happisburgh Site 1 (Norfolk, UK) and its European context

“…High Lodge lies 1 km to the north of Warren Hill and has two main assemblages. The lower non-handaxe assemblage was excavated from the alluvial clays of Bed C, which are attributed to floodplain sediments of the Bytham River during MIS 13 (Ashton et al, 1992; for an alternative interpretation see West et al, 2014). The assemblage is in primary context with refitting material.…”