Palaeoenvironment and dating of the Early Acheulean localities from the Somme River basin (Northern France): New discoveries from the High Terrace at Abbeville-Carrière Carpentier

Antoine, Pierre; Moncel, Marie‐Hélène; Limondin-Lozouët, Nicole; Locht, Jean‐luc; Bahain, Jean‐Jacques; Moreno, Davinia; Voinchet, Pierre; Auguste, Patrick; Stoetzel, Emmanuelle; Dabkowski, Julie; Bello, Silvia M.; Parfitt, Simon A.; Tombret, Olivier; Hardy, Bruce

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.07.035

Cited by 44 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 141 publications

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“…Equus hydruntinus is absent from certain very rich fossiliferous sequences, such as those from the Middle Complex of La Caune de l'Arago (MIS 14 to 12) (Moigne et al, 2006). The species is mentioned with caution for the Somme basin in the upper unit (Marne Blanche) of the quarry Carpentier d'Abbeville, recently dated and correlated with MIS 15 (Antoine et al, 2016).…”

Section: Biochronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biostratigraphy and Palaeoecology of European Equus

Boulbes

Van

2019

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Section: Biochronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biostratigraphy and Palaeoecology of European Equus

Boulbes

Van

2019

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…Detailed map of the Carpentier Alluvial Formation between Carpentier and Moulin Quignon (+40 m) with location of all the sites mentioned in this study according to recent 19,20,25 and former 26–29 data. Background image and topography according to Google Earth Pro 2018 (Image © 2018 DigitalGlobe), drawing by P. Antoine using Canvas Draw IV (https://www.canvasgfx.com/en/products/canvas-draw).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The earliest evidence of Acheulian occupation in Northwest Europe and the rediscovery of the Moulin Quignon site, Somme valley, France

Antoine

Moncel

Voinchet

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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The dispersal of hominin groups with an Acheulian technology and associated bifacial tools into northern latitudes is central to the debate over the timing of the oldest human occupation of Europe. New evidence resulting from the rediscovery and the dating of the historic site of Moulin Quignon demonstrates that the first Acheulian occupation north of 50°N occurred around 670–650 ka ago. The new archaeological assemblage was discovered in a sequence of fluvial sands and gravels overlying the chalk bedrock at a relative height of 40 m above the present-day maximal incision of the Somme River and dated by ESR on quartz to early MIS 16. More than 260 flint artefacts were recovered, including large flakes, cores and five bifaces. This discovery pushes back the age of the oldest Acheulian occupation of north-western Europe by more than 100 ka and bridges the gap between the archaeological records of northern France and England. It also challenges hominin dispersal models in Europe showing that hominins using bifacial technology, such as Homo heidelbergensis, were probably able to overcome cold climate conditions as early as 670–650 ka ago and reasserts the importance of the Somme valley, where Prehistory was born at the end of the 19th century.

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“…The sites at Cagny-la-Garenne are difficult to compare to other sites because they are workshop locations. However, there are ovate handaxes from other sites in the Somme valley, such as Abbeville, which probably date to MIS 14 and show similarities to the handaxes from Britain (Antoine et al, 2016).…”

Section: Humans In Europe At the End Of The Early Middle Pleistocenementioning

confidence: 94%

“…12). New fieldwork at Carrière Carpentier in Abbeville has dated the fluvial sediments to MIS 15, and these underlie deposits that are thought to have contained the handaxes that were collected in the th and early 20 th centuries (Antoine et al, 2015(Antoine et al, , 2016. The handaxes, which have been cautiously attributed to MIS 14, are predominantly ovate in form (Tuffreau and Antoine, 1995).…”

Section: Humans In Europe At the End Of The Early Middle Pleistocenementioning

confidence: 99%

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

Lewis

Ashton

Field

et al. 2019

Quaternary Science Reviews

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The timing, environmental setting and archaeological signatures of an early human presence in northern Europe have been longstanding themes of Palaeolithic research. In the space of 20 years, the earliest record of human occupation in Britain has been pushed back from 500 ka (Boxgrove) to 700 ka (Pakefield) and then to >800 ka (Happisburgh Site 3). Other sites also contribute to this record of human occupation; a second locality at Happisburgh, referred to as Site 1, attests to human presence at around 500 ka (MIS 13). This paper provides the first comprehensive account of research undertaken at Happisburgh Site 1 since 2000. The early human landscape and depositional environment was that of a river floodplain, where an active river channel, in which the grey sand was deposited, was abandoned, forming a floodplain lake, with marginal marsh/swamp environments, which was infilled with organic mud. This succession is sealed by Middle Pleistocene glacial deposits. An assemblage of 199 flint flakes, flake tools and cores was recovered from the grey sand and organic mud. The evidence from Happisburgh Site 1 is placed in the context of the wider British and European MIS 13 record. The growing evidence for a significant dispersal of humans into northern Europe around 500 ka raises critical questions concerning the environmental conditions under which this took place. We also consider the evolutionary and behavioural changes in human populations that might have enabled the more widespread and persistent period of human presence in northern Europe at this time.

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Palaeoenvironment and dating of the Early Acheulean localities from the Somme River basin (Northern France): New discoveries from the High Terrace at Abbeville-Carrière Carpentier

Cited by 44 publications

References 141 publications

Biostratigraphy and Palaeoecology of European Equus

Biostratigraphy and Palaeoecology of European Equus

The earliest evidence of Acheulian occupation in Northwest Europe and the rediscovery of the Moulin Quignon site, Somme valley, France

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

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