In the previous few columns I have explored some of the great towns of Roman Britain – so, as a change of pace, here I will begin a new mini-series on the country’s great prehistoric sites. I will commence this month with a series of locations in Norfolk and Suffolk where there is evidence for Palaeolithic activity, some dating back to the Lower Palaeolithic (c.3.3 million-300,000 years ago), others spanning the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic (c.300,000-50,000 and c.50,000-12,000 years ago, respectively). This is far outside the research timespan of most archaeologists, and involves partnership with a host of disciplines in the earth sciences: it can feel like distinctly unfamiliar territory. To help explain these sites and finds, Current Archaeology has produced regular updates on the wider research landscape. A crucial starting point is CA 190 (February 2004), which introduced the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB) project of 2001-2011. CA 210 (July 2007) followed up on this after the publication of Chris Stringer’s book Homo Britannicus, which remains the best general introduction to this subject; meanwhile, CA 330 (September 2017) and CA 331 (October 2017) featured Nick Ashton’s book Early Humans, providing a deep dive into the Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic. Most recently, CA 372 (March 2021) introduced the latest key book on the topic: Rebecca Wragg-Sykes’ Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art.
Adventures in Deep Time
Focusing on Suffolk and Norfolk, the two most important sites are Pakefield in the former and Happisburgh in the latter – both on the coast, where cycles of erosion regularly expose new materials. CA 201 (January 2006) first examined these sites at the time of what remains one of the greatest finds in the history of British archaeology: a handaxe discovered in situ in coastal muds by a man walking his dog along the beach in 2000. He was a keen collector of fossils and minerals and spotted the axe at extreme low tide; he reported it to Cromer Museum, who then reported it to Norwich Museum, who in turn reported it to the British Museum. Fieldwork to follow up the find securely dated the thick peaty deposit within which it was discovered to around 700,000 years ago. In a flash, this single artefact had shown that humans were present in what became Britain 200,000 years earlier than had previously been known. Remember to keep a similarly sharp eye out on your next coastal walk!
CA 201 outlined the history of the discovery, as well as the wider chronology and context of both Happisburgh and Pakefield, and the magazine revisited the former site, reporting on additional fieldwork, in CA 246 (September 2010). In total, more than 70 flint tools and flakes were eventually unearthed along the Happisburgh foreshore. CA 288 (March 2014) then returned to both locations in a multi-site review linked to the Natural History Museum exhibition One Million Years of the Human Story that was on display at that time. By this point, six Palaeolithic sites had been identified at Happisburgh, including the oldest archaeological site in northern Europe (Site 3, approximately 900,000 years old, notable for its excellent organic preservation) and what may be the world’s oldest underwater archaeological site. CA 288 also dug into the details of Pakefield, located 20 miles south of Happisburgh in neighbouring Suffolk and long suspected to be a likely source of Palaeolithic finds. Fieldwork in the early 2000s proved these suspicions right, with more than 30 worked flints identified, including a flaked core and debitage from tool-making, all from clearly stratified deposits containing fossil plants and animals, which helped to securely date the site to at least 700,000 years ago.
