Fieldwork at the Lower Palaeolithic site at Devereux's Pit, Icklingham, Suffolk, UK, has identified two lithic industries, separated stratigraphically, dated to marine oxygen isotope stage 11 (MIS 11: 424-374 ka). The lower stone tool assemblages consist of core and flake technology with occasional flake tools, succeeded by an assemblage related to the manufacture of handaxes. The assemblages occur within a continuously accumulating fine-grained sequence with no sedimentary evidence to indicate a significant hiatus in human occupation of the site between the two industries. This suggests a rapid changeover from non-handaxe to handaxe technology. Devereux's Pit is the fourth MIS 11 locality in Britain with this archaeological succession, after Barnham East Farm, Swanscombe, and Southfleet Road, Ebbsfleet. It adds to the evidence from across Britain for the Clactonian (core and flake) and Acheulean (handaxes) as successive industries of the Hoxnian Interglacial (MIS 11c). The interpretation of a short time interval between the industries at Devereux's Pit supports the hypothesis that the appearance of handaxes during the Hoxnian represents the spread of Acheulean technology from Europe to Britain, rather than independent development of handaxe manufacture by the existing population. This lends support to a ‘source and sink’ demographic model of Middle Pleistocene Europe and provides further evidence for a mosaic of human groups, each with a distinctive material culture that is contingent on historical and environmental circumstances.

This paper examines regional and chronological variations in Acheulean handaxe morphology during Marine Isotope Stage 11 (c. 425-365 ka BP) in Britain. Using a data set of 737 handaxes from 13 securely dated sites in East Anglia and the Thames Valley, we apply three-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis to examine morphological variability. Our results show that two distinct handaxe forms were present in different areas of Britain during MIS 11: sub-stage MIS 11c assemblages in East Anglia are dominated by ovate handaxes with twisted edges, while contemporaneous Thames Valley assemblages are characterised by pointed forms. By sub-stage MIS 11a, Thames Valley sites shift to ovate handaxes with twisted edges, whereas East Anglia now shows a predominance of pointed forms. Statistical models indicate that rather than raw material constraints or reduction intensity, regional factors such as cultural groups drive these differences. These patterns suggest persistent technological norms, strong knowledge transmission and cultural resilience across climatic oscillations. Our findings highlight the role of small-scale, juxtaposed cultural groups in shaping Acheulean variability and adapting to dynamic Middle Pleistocene environments.

There has been long debate about what constitutes modern behaviour with much of the focus on Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens . But there has also been recognition by many researchers that the route to modern behaviour can be traced back into the Middle Pleistocene and that a multi-regional approach addresses the question more broadly by contributing evidence from other hominin species. This article re-evaluates some of the evidence from Europe over the last half million years, drawing on developments in technology, economizing behaviours, landscape use, social organization, and social signalling through material culture.

Despite the widespread acceptance of the Clactonian during the earlier part of the Hoxnian interglacial (MIS 11c) in Britain, the subsequent occurrence of a non-handaxe signature early in the following interglacial (MIS 10/9) has received less coverage and remains contentious. Recent work on MIS 9 in Britain has re-evaluated the archaeology of the period. This paper offers a critical assessment of the non-handaxe signature in MIS 9 Britain, including the addition of Redhill in East Anglia from recent excavations. The paper is an evaluation of the evidence for distinct core and flake assemblages, analysing the technology and offering a comparison with handaxe sites from the interglacial. Four non-handaxe sites can be identified in the Thames and East Anglia; the technology of the artefacts they yield represents a base line that cannot be differentiated from the wider Lower Palaeolithic other than in terms of the presence/absence of handaxe manufacture. Due to the lack of positive identifiers, the MIS 9 technology cannot be linked directly to the Clactonian and should be treated separately. Given the temporal pattern of occurrence early in the interglacial in both MIS 11 and MIS 9, and no convincing functional or raw-material explanations, the assemblages are interpreted as a cultural signature. This fits into the wider variation across Europe during the Lower Palaeolithic linked to the ‘Cultural Mosaic Model’, and a further example of the nuanced chronological patterns emerging in the Lower Palaeolithic of Britain.

There has been long debate about what constitutes modern behaviour with much of the focus on Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens. But there has also been recognition by many researchers that the route to modern behaviour can be traced back into the Middle Pleistocene and that a multi-regional approach addresses the question more broadly by contributing evidence from other hominin species. This article re-evaluates some of the evidence from Europe over the last half million years, drawing on developments in technology, economizing behaviours, landscape use, social organization, and social signalling through material culture. La question de ce qui constitue le comportement moderne fait d & eacute;bat depuis longtemps, l'accent & eacute;tant mis dans une grande mesure sur l'Afrique et l'& eacute;mergence d'Homo sapiens. De nombreux chercheurs reconnaissent cependant que l'on peut remonter la route menant & agrave; la modernit & eacute; comportementale jusqu'au Pl & eacute;istoc & egrave;ne moyen et qu'une approche multir & eacute;gionale permet d'& eacute;largir le champ de l'analyse en apportant des donn & eacute;es relatives & agrave; d'autres esp & egrave;ces d'hominin & eacute;s. Le pr & eacute;sent article r & eacute;& eacute;value certains des indices recueillis en Europe au cours du dernier demi-million d'ann & eacute;es, en s'attachant aux d & eacute;veloppements technologiques, aux comportements d'& eacute;conomie, & agrave; l'utilisation des paysages, & agrave; l'organisation sociale et & agrave; la signalisation sociale par le biais de la culture mat & eacute;rielle.

Fire-making is a uniquely human innovation that stands apart from other complex behaviours such as tool production, symbolic culture and social communication. Controlled fire use provided adaptive opportunities that had profound effects on human evolution. Benefits included warmth, protection from predators, cooking and creation of illuminated spaces that became focal points for social interaction1-3. Fire use developed over a million years, progressing from harvesting natural fire to maintaining and ultimately making fire4. However, determining when and how fire use evolved is challenging because natural and anthropogenic burning are hard to distinguish5-7. Although geochemical methods have improved interpretations of heated deposits, unequivocal evidence of deliberate fire-making has remained elusive. Here we present evidence of fire-making on a 400,000-year-old buried landsurface at Barnham (UK), where heated sediments and fire-cracked flint handaxes were found alongside two fragments of iron pyrite-a mineral used in later periods to strike sparks with flint. Geological studies show that pyrite is locally rare, suggesting it was brought deliberately to the site for fire-making. The emergence of this technological capability provided important social and adaptive benefits, including the ability to cook food on demand-particularly meat-thereby enhancing digestibility and energy availability, which may have been crucial for hominin brain evolution3.

This paper re-examines earlier Palaeolithic core technology from British sites assigned to MIS 11, 9, and 7 using primarily a châine opératoire approach, with the objective of better understanding the earliest occurrence and distribution of Levallois and other prepared-core technologies across the Old World. Contrary to previous interpretations (White and Ashton in Current Anthropology, 44: 598–609, 2003), we find no evidence for a true Levallois concept in MIS 11 or MIS 9 in Britain. Cores previously described as ‘simple prepared cores’ or ‘proto-Levallois’ cores show neither evidence of core management nor predetermination of the resulting flakes. They can instead be explained as the coincidental result of a simpler technological scheme aimed at exploiting the largest surface area of a core, thereby maximising the size of the flakes produced from it. This may be a more widespread practice, or a local solution derived from existing principles. Levallois appears fully formed in Britain during terminal MIS 8/initial MIS 7. Consequently, Britain does not provide evidence for an in situ evolution of Levallois, rather we argue it was introduced by new settlers after a glacial abandonment: the solution to the emergence and significance of Levallois lies in southern Europe, the Levant and Africa.

The Breckland of central East Anglia has a Pleistocene geological sequence spanning c. 1 million years, providing a framework for assessing changes in human technology and behaviour within a single changing palaeolandscape. The geological record and its associated Palaeolithic archaeology divides into three chronological periods: the fluvial deposits of the River Bytham, which span c. 1 ma to 450 ka; the Hoxnian interglacial sites (c. 400 ka); and the fluvial terraces of the post-Anglian drainage network, which records the past c. 400,000 years. This paper focuses on the third of these periods, presenting results from new work on the fluvial sediments and Palaeolithic archaeology associated with the Little Ouse River. Fieldwork was conducted at four Palaeolithic sites; Barnham Heath, Redhill, Santon Downham, and Broomhill Pit. The new sedimentological and stratigraphic data are used in conjunction with existing borehole records to construct long profiles for the river terrace aggradations and establish a terrace stratigraphy for the Little Ouse. Correlation with the marine isotope record is supported by age estimates from electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of sand units within the terrace aggradations. The results provide an age-constrained lithostratigraphic framework for understanding the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic records of the Little Ouse. The results can be added to previous work on the Bytham and Hoxnian sites, enabling an assessment of human activity in the region from c. 800-200 ka.

During the summer of 2019, the Bacton to Walcott Coastal Management Scheme involved the emplacement on to the foreshore of 1.8 million cubic metres of sand and gravel dredged from the submerged sediments of the Palaeo-Yare in the southern North Sea 11 km off Great Yarmouth. During the following 2-year period, an active group of collectors identified Palaeolithic artefacts eroding from these sediments, including Levallois cores and flakes, and cordiform handaxes. In this paper, we present an analysis of the lithic artefacts, and consider the relationships between the different elements of the assemblage. We discuss its significance in the context of the Middle Palaeolithic record of northwest Europe and the light it shines on the human occupation of the submerged landscape of the southern North Sea during the later Middle Pleistocene. Interrogation of beach survey data shows the reworking of these sediments to the southeast towards Happisburgh where archaeologically significant exposures of the Cromer Forest-bed Formation are located. The implications of the introduction of a Middle Palaeolithic assemblage to this stretch of the North Norfolk Coast are considered, highlighting the importance of continuing dialogue between researchers, local authorities and local communities for capturing information and monitoring this critical Palaeolithic resource.

The Early and early Middle Pleistocene archaeological record in Britain from c. 900 to 500 ka marks a critical shift in human occupation of northwest Europe, from occasional pioneer populations with simple core and flake technology to more widespread occupation associated with the appearance of Acheulean technology. Key to understanding this record are the fluvial deposits of the extinct Bytham River in central East Anglia, where a series of Lower Palaeolithic sites lie on a 15 km stretch of the former river. In this paper we present the results of new fieldwork and a reanalysis of historical artefact collections of handaxes and scrapers to: 1) establish the chronostratigraphic context of the Bytham archaeological record; 2) examine variability in lithic artefact typology and technology through time; and 3) explore the implications for understanding variation in lithic technology in the European record. Six phases of occupation of Britain are identified from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 to MIS 13, with the last three phases characterised by distinctive lithic technology. We argue that this relates to the discontinuous occupation of Britain, where each phase represents the arrival of new groups derived from different European populations with distinctive material culture.

The period between 600 and 400 ka is a critical phase for human evolution in Europe. The south and northwest saw a dramatic increase in sites, the spread of handaxe technology alongside bone and wooden tool manufacture, efficient hunting techniques, and the use of fire. Lithic assemblages show considerable variation, including the presence/absence of handaxes and tool morphology. To explain this variation, we propose the Cultural Mosaic Model, which suggests that there is a range of expressions of the Acheulean, with local resources being instrumental in creating distinct material cultures with or without handaxes. We argue that if typologically and technologically distinct assemblage types are regionally distributed, chronologically separated, and persistent over time, then they are unlikely to be caused purely by raw material constraints or functional variation but rather reflect populations with different material cultures. We initially assess the model using British data. Britain was a northwestern peninsula of Europe, and oscillations in climate led to episodic occupation. The terraces of the pre-MIS 12 Bytham River provide a framework for dating occupation to MIS 13 and 15, while during MIS 11, archaeological sites with rich environmental records can be dated to substage level. We suggest there are six chronologically and typologically distinct assemblage types that reflect a series of population incursions into Britain. We review the broader European lithic record, which is consistent with the Cultural Mosaic Model. In developing the model, we suggest that during stable climate, localized cultures developed, while climatic change led to shifts in population, with increased knowledge exchange and gene flow. We suggest that group expression through material culture was an important stage in social development by promoting group cohesion, larger group size, better cooperation, improved knowledge transfer, and enabling populations to survive in larger foraging territories in northern Europe.

The Bytham River was one of the major pre-Anglian (MIS 12) rivers of eastern England. Flowing from the Midlands to the East Anglian coast, it has been recognised at numerous sites by its distinctive lithological suite, containing significant quantities of quartzite, quartz and Carboniferous chert that originate from central England. In the Breckland of Suffolk and Norfolk, deposits of the Bytham River can be identified at 26 sites by this distinctive clast lithological composition. These sediments, referred to as the Ingham Formation, consist of a series of sand and gravel aggradations, which due to their differences in elevation can be interpreted as at least four early Middle Pleistocene terrace remnants of the former river, and a final phase of deposition along the river valley prior to its destruction. This paper reports on recent fieldwork at six of these sites, which through stratigraphic and lithological analyses, together with new Electron Spin Resonance age estimates, contribute to a revised geological framework for the Bytham River as represented in the Breckland. These sites can be attributed to the four lowest fluvial aggradations, with the lowest and youngest of these aggradations shown to be early Anglian in age. The river was subsequently overrun by Anglian ice during Marine Isotope Stage 12. This revised geological and chronological interpretation provides an important framework for understanding the Lower Palaeolithic artefacts that have been found within these gravel aggradations, and contributes to the understanding of the human occupation of north-west Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene.

Fluvial terrace sequences of Pleistocene rivers provide a chronological framework for examining broad patterns of change in the Palaeolithic record. Collections of artefacts recovered from individual terraces represent a time-averaged sample of the range of lithic technology discarded in a river valley over thousands of years. These can be compared and contrasted with other terraces to identify the timing of the appearance of key technological innovations and chronological variation in lithic technology. In Britain, the punctuated nature of human presence during the Pleistocene means that archaeological variation across a river terrace sequence is likely to relate in part to successive phases of occupation by human groups derived from populations in mainland Europe. This paper presents an analysis of the Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic record of the River Test, Hampshire, which was a tributary river of the former River Solent. The timing of the first appearance of handaxes and Levallois technology is established, and chronological patterning in handaxe typology and technology is identified. The Test record is placed in its regional context, and its implications for understanding the human occupation history of northwest Europe during the Middle Pleistocene are discussed.

Identification of cultural groups is rare in the early Palaeolithic due to site formation processes including taphonomy and the effect of raw material and site function. This paper reviews a critical period in Europe at about 400 ka (MIS 11) when we may be able to identify such groups. This period, sees more sustained occupation and evidence of new technologies, including bone and wooden tools, hunting and fire-use. Importantly, brain size had begun to approach modem capacity. The fine-tuned record from Britain enables correlation of sites and new models of human behaviour to be developed. Millennial-scale changes in material culture can now be recognised, which can be interpreted as brief incursions by different cultural groups into Britain from mainland Europe. We suggest that population movement was primarily driven by changes in climate and environment. We further propose that variation in material culture is a reflection of local resources and landscape and that during stable environment localised expressions of culture emerge. This can be applied to Europe, where it is suggested that a complex mosaic of small-scale cultural groupings can be identified, some with and some without handaxes, but underpinned by a common set of technologies and behaviours.

ABSTRACTBritain has an important geological, environmental and archaeological record for Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11), which makes a major contribution to understanding of the human occupation of northern Europe. New fieldwork at Barnham, Suffolk, UK, has identified through improved geological resolution the change in assemblages from simple core and flake working to those with handaxe technology. The two assemblages are argued to reflect distinct human populations from different source areas in Europe. The paper examines the European record and puts forward a new model of how the complex mosaic of lithic assemblages reflects local, habitual practices during stable environments, but changes in climate and environment led to larger scale shifts in population, resulting in new human groups arriving in Britain.