Curating the Palaeolithic: Introduction to Case Studies
The Curating the Palaeolithic project has produced a guidance document and illustrative case studies to support the curatorial sector in managing England’s Palaeolithic and Pleistocene resources. The project documents are principally aimed at the non-specialists who constitute the majority of project managers and curatorial archaeologists.
The case studies published here have been selected to illustrate the diversity of methodological and curatorial approaches to Palaeolithic and Pleistocene resources. This diversity reflects the wide range of geological deposits involved and the complexity of these deposits and of the contexts in which they occur.
Features of particular archaeological and methodological interest are noted below, including public engagement in some of the investigations to raise public understanding of Palaeolithic archaeology.
The individual case studies are generally structured according to a standard template (Executive Summary > Keywords > Project Stages > Development Context > Archaeological Context > Methodology & Research Questions > Results > Significance > Key Insights), to help readers more effectively compare and contrast the methodological approaches used for different sites and deposits.
Seven of the case studies describe investigations which were developer-funded and were time-limited in the context of developer priorities. This is the most common experience in development-led archaeology. These case studies describe investigative strategies and methodologies both in situations where the recovery of Palaeolithic and/or palaeoenvironmental remains was a key element of the investigation, and where such remains were not present.
Most of these case studies deal with River Terrace Deposits, but the Glaston case study highlights the potential of sediments traps, including fissures and grabens, as sources of Palaeolithic and palaeoenvironmental remains. The Glaston case study also illustrates the potential for the discovery of such remains where development impact is relatively shallow.
The remaining case studies were not directly developer-funded but deal with methodological and curatorial topics directly relevant to development-led investigations.
Four of these case studies relate to the development of quarry sites. They record successful cooperation with the aggregate industry and in three cases provide valuable insights into the management of long-term watching briefs.
The Caves case study outlines the possible impact of development on cave deposits and discusses the methodological problems of investigating Palaeolithic and Pleistocene records preserved in caves.
The importance of good baseline data-sets is addressed in the Worcester case study, which examines the development and management of the Historic Environment Record (HER) for the county of Worcester. Such records are valuable in areas both with and without well-understood Palaeolithic and Pleistocene resources.
The Trent Valley case study provides an example of regional-scale evaluation for a major river basin in glaciated Britain with a long history of research, where artefacts are already known but poorly contextualised. It brings together data on river terraces, glacial deposits and related Palaeolithic archaeology.
All the case studies are listed below which is designed to guide curators to case studies illustrating examples of investigative strategies and methodologies likely to be relevant in the investigation of specific development contexts.
A standard tabulation within each case study records the stages through which the investigation passed.
Finally, we would like to thank all of the case study authors for their generous contributions to the project as a whole.
Rob Hosfield, Hannah Fluck, Chris Green and Rob Batchelor
Summary of project case studies
Chard Junction Quarry
Location: Somerset
Scope of investigation: Monitor and record deposits and recover Palaeolithic artefacts
Period: MIS 12–2
Deposit type: River Terrace
Development context: Quarry development
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, data analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Terrestrial laser scanning, digital granulometry, recovery of artefacts
Principal desk/lab methods: Dating (OSL), Deposit Modelling
Features of special interest: Use of laser scanning, long-term collaboration with quarry staff
Kimbridge Farm Quarry
Location: Hampshire
Scope of investigation: Monitor and record deposits and recover Palaeolithic artefacts
Period: MIS 9–28
Deposit type: River Terrace
Development context: Quarry development
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, data analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Watching brief (quarry faces/spoil heaps), recovery of artefacts
Principal desk/lab methods: Dating (OSL), Digital Terrain Modelling
Features of special interest: Long-term collaboration with quarry staff
Valdoe Quarry
Location: West Sussex
Scope of investigation: Record deposits and recover Palaeolithic artefacts
Period: MIS 13
Deposit type: Raised Beach
Development context: Quarry development
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, data analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Boreholes, trenches, 3-D recording and recovery of artefacts
Principal desk/lab methods: Analysis of sampled material
Features of special interest: Proximity to Boxgrove SSSI, public involvement
West Sussex Coastal Plain
Location: West Sussex
Scope of investigation: Record deposits
Period: MIS 13–7
Deposit type: Raised Beach
Development context: Quarry development
Type of investigation: Fieldwork
Principal field methods: Boreholes, trenches
Principal desk/lab methods: Deposit modelling
Features of special interest: Proximity to Boxgrove SSSI
Southall Gasworks
Location: West London
Scope of investigation: Record deposits
Period: MIS 9–7
Deposit type: River Terrace
Development context: Residential/commercial/
industrial site
Type of investigation: Desk-based assessment, fieldwork
Principal field methods: Test-pits
Principal desk/lab methods: Deposit modelling
Features of special interest: Complex land-use history, site contamination
Ebbsfleet Academy
Location: Kent
Scope of investigation: Record deposits and recover Palaeolithic artefacts
Period: MIS 11–8
Deposit type: River Terrace
Development context: Residential/commercial/
industrial site
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, post-excavation analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Trenches/test pits, sampling, volume-controlled sediment sieving
Principal desk/lab methods: Clast lithological analysis, Analysis of sampled material
Features of special interest: Proximity to Swanscombe skull site NNR
Nightingale Estate & Ponds Farm
Location: East London
Scope of investigation: Record deposits and recover
palaeoenvironmental remains
Period: MIS 9–7
Deposit type: River Terrace
Development context: Residential/commercial/
industrial site
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, post-excavation analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Boreholes, deep trenching (use of trench box), palaeoenvironmental sampling
Principal desk/lab methods: Dating (OSL, AAR, U-series), analysis of plant and animal remains
Features of special interest: Multi-proxy investigation, media interest
Glaston
Location: Rutland
Scope of investigation: Record deposits and recover palaeoenvironmental and archaeological remains
Period: MIS 3
Deposit type: Fissure/graben
Development context: Residential/commercial/
industrial site
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, post-excavation analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Grid-square excavation, recovery of artefacts and faunal remains (bones)
Principal desk/lab methods: Analysis of sampled material
Features of special interest: Association of lithic artefacts with hyena den remains
Ebbsfleet Elephant
Location: Kent
Scope of investigation: Record deposits and recover palaeoenvironmental and archaeological remains
Period: MIS 11
Deposit type: River Terrace; Lacustrine
Development context: Infrastructure development
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, post-excavation analysis, publication
Principal field methods: Deep excavation, ground-reflecting laser survey, 3-D recording and recovery of artefacts, lifting of faunal remains
Principal desk/lab methods: Analysis of sampled material
Features of special interest: Association of lithic artefacts with elephant remains
Happisburgh
Location: Norfolk
Scope of investigation: Monitor and record deposits and recover Palaeolithic artefacts
Period: MIS 25–13
Deposit type: River Terrace
Development context: Coastal management
Type of investigation: Fieldwork, data analysis
Principal field methods: Boreholes, geophysics (direct current resistivity), offshore survey
Principal desk/lab methods: Analysis of data
Features of special interest: Earliest record of human activity in Britain, public involvement
Trent Valley
Location: Trent Valley
Scope of investigation: Regional evaluation
Period: All
Deposit type: River Terrace; Glacial
Development context: N/A
Type of investigation: Desk-based assessment, fieldwork
Principal field methods: Boreholes, recording of quarry and other exposures
Principal desk/lab methods: Literature-based review
Features of special interest: Impact of glaciation on drainage history
Cave Deposits
Location: N/A
Scope of investigation: Overview potential of cave deposits
Period: All
Deposit type: Cave
Development context: N/A
Type of investigation: Desk-based overview of cave deposit potential
Principal field methods: N/A
Principal desk/lab methods: Literature-based review
Features of special interest: Potential for development impact on outermost portions of caves
Worcestershire HER
Location: Worcester
Scope of investigation: HER development
Period: All
Deposit type: All
Development context: N/A
Type of investigation: Desk and museum-based data enhancement
Principal field methods: Assessment of lithic and faunal museum collections
Principal desk/lab methods: HER updating, GIS mapping and modelling
Features of special interest: HER as a curatorial tool for understanding of Palaeolithic potential
