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Archaeologists working in north Abingdon have revealed evidence of one of our early human ancestors, as well as traces of ancient river systems, during preparation works for the new A34 interchange at Lodge Hill.
Sixteen trial trenches were dug during the project, together with 12 test-pits and two boreholes within small areas across the 15ha site. Despite their relatively small scale, the investigations proved fruitful, revealing the remains of an ancient river channel filled with silty sediments (up to a depth of 5m) crossing the site. This waterway, which sits below a younger layer of gravel, is believed to have been part of the Lodge Hill Channel, and dates to between 500,000 and 600,000 years ago, placing it in the Middle Pleistocene period.
At depths of 3m-4m, the channel contained deposits of ancient marine fossil material, such as snail shells, as well as freshwater fish bones, plant remains, and possible pollen samples, illuminating an environment long lost to time. Similar deposits found in nearby Sugworth Lane during excavations in the 1970s were recognised being as of national importance, as they contained the fossilised remains of an extinct species of vole.
As for hominin activity on the site, the team also found a number of worked flint tools, including a large piece of hand-axe that was found at the edge of an interglacial channel. The axe has been dated to the lower middle Palaeolithic period, making it a rare find in the Upper Thames landscape. ‘The human species involved was probably Homo heidelbergensis, ancestors of the Neanderthals. They periodically occupied Britain in warmer climatic episodes between c.800,000 and 400,000 years ago,’ said Francis Wenban-Smith of the University of Southampton, palaeolithic specialist for Oxford Archaeology.
It is hoped that more detailed excavation works will reveal further information about the site. ’The intention is for the further mitigation works to provide stepped or shored access, in order to provide a better record and samples from the base of the channel,’ explained Carl Champness, Senior Project Officer at Oxford Archaeology, adding that further gravel-sampling may uncover more echoes of ancient activity.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Photo: Oxford Archaeology
