The Pleistocene Succession in the Lower parts of the Thames Valley

Abstract

The object of the present communication is to demonstrate the relationships which, in the light of present knowledge, appear to exist between the various Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in the Lower and Middle Thames Valley. For this purpose two cross-sections of the valley have been drawn indicating the relative positions of the deposits which occur at various localities as though they were all present in two localities, one in the Lower, and one in the Middle Thames.As many of the more important deposits in the Lower Thames are represented to the north and south of the river in the Dartford area, we have drawn the one section as if our ideal locality occurred in that neighbourhood. In this section, therefore, the relative altitudes of the various beds above and below present river level are those which are found in that part of the Thames basin. In tributary valleys, or in other parts of the main valley these altitudes are not of course necessarily maintained. In cases where deposits belonging to a particular stage have not been preserved in the Dartford area, but occur in a neighbouring part of the valley, or in a tributary valley, their position in the composite section has been roughly gauged by a process of extrapolation. Similarly when dealing with the Middle Thames, we have drawn our ideal section as though all the deposits occurred in one section of the valley in the neighbourhood of Iver.

Fluvial archives as a framework for the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: patterns of British artefact distribution and potential chronological implications

“…Historical abuses, whereby artefact typology and the assumed ordering of types (seriation) were often used in dating models as key constraints, sometimes even taking precedence over geological feasibility (cf. King & Oakley 1936), have also tarnished typology as a dating tool. The issue has, however, scarcely been revisited in the interval since significant advances were made in the interpretation of Quaternary chrono--and climato--stratigraphy, as a result of the adoption of the oceanic oxygen--isotope record as a global template.…”

The Palaeolithic occupation of Europe as revealed by evidence from the rivers: data from IGCP 449

“…The view that the archaeological record can be used as a dating tool has a long pedigree in the Thames; King and Oakley (1936) erected a correlation scheme using artefact assemblages as well as biostratigraphy, although this was set in the context of the oversimplified view of palaeoclimatic fluctuation that prevailed at that time. As well as their interpretation of the Quaternary record, the archaeological divisions applied by King and Oakley are now seen as outmoded, although their scheme, at least in part, was widely adhered to as late as the 1970s (Conway, 1970;cf.…”

European and Northwest African Middle Pleistocene Hominids

“…It has been suggested that the Middle Gravels and Upper Loam constitute a recognizably distinct deposi tional stage, the Middle Barnfield or Late Boyn Hill stage, separated by" an erosional interval (represented in certain localities) from the Lower Gravel and Lower Loam, the Lower Barnfield or Early Boyn Hill stage of King and Oakley (1936). Judging from the molluscan faunas, the Thames and Rhine rivers were separate during the earlier stage, whereas, in the Late Boyn Hill CURRENTANTHROPOLOCV and more likely several, glacial advances preceded the aggradation of the deposits that constitute the Boyn' Hill Terrace, since: (1) within' the gravels, far-traveled glacial erratics are found, attributed by Baden-Powell (1951) to the Lowestoft (Lower Chalky Boulder Clay) Glaciation; (2) the Thames River flowed at the time in its present terraced valley, previously having been diverted southward [rom more northeasterly courses by glacial advance(s) (Wooldridge 1938(Wooldridge , 1957Wooldridge and Linton 1955); (3) such gravels overlie glacial boulder clay at certain other exposures (Hornchurch); and (4) the great thickness of the Swanscombe gravels indicates a considerable rise in sea level during their aggradation, a rise, in fact, of approximately 107 feet, corresponding with the extent of the Tyrrhenian I marine transgression of the Mediterranean.…”

“…as well as fauna and flora) overlain by estuarine beds (Wan-en 1923(Wan-en , 1924(Wan-en , 1932(Wan-en , 1951(Wan-en , 1955, was generally assumed to correspond with the interval represented in the weathering of the Swanscombe Lower Loam (King and Oakley 1936;Oakley and Leakey 1938;Oakley 1952;Warren 1955). The recently published pollen dia gram from Clacton (Pike and Godwin 1953) indicates a mixed-oak forest (oak, elm, and linden, in decreasing order of abundance) extending from the upper part of the freshwater series well into the estuar·ine series, where it is replaced by a coniferous forest phase particu larly high in silver fir.…”