Early human occupation of the British Isles

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  • Created by: Emily
  • Created on: 01-06-11 13:13

Boxgrove

  • Located in West Sussex.
  • It is thought to date to c. 500,000BC. It is a lower Palaeolithic site. 
  • Found here:
    • Flint artefacts
    • Several animal bones some of which are the oldest found of their species. 
    • Remains of animals dating to around 500,000BC. Some of the bones had butchery marks on them.
    • Remains of Homo heidelbergensis-the tibia bone and parts of the skull. There is gnawing to the ends of the bones suggesting that they might have been prey to the animals not just the animals being prey for them. 
  • There is no evidence of human settlement so it might suggest that they did not live there and in fact they lived elsewhere and it was just an industrial site.
  • Animals thought to have been here at the time include:
    • Lions
    • Bears
    • Rhinos
    • Giant Deer
  • It appears to be the site of some of the earliest human occupants of the British Isles. 

Swanscombe Man

  • Located in North-West Kent.
  • Found here:
    • Several Palaeolithic-era handaxes some of which are as old as 400,000 years old.
    • Two fossilised skull fragments of which are known to be the remains of the Swanscombe man. They are now thought to belong to a young woman. A third piece of the skull was found later on. The fragments are thought to date to 200,000-30,000 years ago. It is thought to belong to an archaic form of Homo sapians. 
    • Animal bones have also been found here and flint tools.
  • It is thought that the site used…

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