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Hominin glacial-stage occupation 712,000 to 424,000 years ago at Fordwich Pit, Old Park (Canterbury, UK)

2025-09-01Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorKey, Alastair
dc.contributor.authorClark, James
dc.contributor.authorLauer, Tobias
dc.contributor.authorBates, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorSier, Mark-Jan
dc.contributor.authorNichols, Claire
dc.contributor.authorMartín-Ramos, Carmen
dc.contributor.authorCebeiro, Adela
dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Eleanor
dc.contributor.authorKim, Sunghui
dc.contributor.authorStileman, Finn
dc.contributor.authorMika, Anna
dc.contributor.authorPope, Matthew
dc.contributor.authorBridgland, David
dc.contributor.authorRedhouse, David
dc.contributor.authorLeonardi, Michela
dc.contributor.authorSmith, Geoff M.
dc.contributor.authorProffitt, Tomos
dc.date.accessioned2025-09-29T09:08:50Z
dc.date.available2025-09-29T09:08:50Z
dc.date.issued2025-09-01
dc.description.abstractFew high-latitude archaeological contexts are older than marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 and even fewer provide evidence of early human occupation during a glacial period. New discoveries at Old Park, Canterbury (UK), provide evidence of both the oldest accessible artefact-bearing sediment in northern Europe and cold-stage adaptation. Radiometric and palaeomagnetic dating places the earliest suggested occupation of this site between 773 thousand years ago (ka) and 607 ka, with hominin presence inferred during MIS 17–16. Two additional artefact-bearing stratigraphic units, dated to around 542 ka and 437 ka, strongly align with the MIS 14 and 12 cold stages, respectively. The latter unit contains convincing evidence of glacial-stage occupation by Acheulean hominins; fresh, unabraded flakes (including biface-thinning) between clearly defined glacial-aged sediments displaying mixed grassland palaeoenvironmental evidence. An historically collected assemblage of more than 330 handaxes is argued to be derived from both the MIS 17–16 and MIS 12 sediments, providing evidence of the earliest known Acheulean bifaces in northern Europe, and re-occupation by Acheulean populations 200,000 years later. Together, Old Park provides evidence for Lower Palaeolithic hominins reoccupying a location over several mid-Pleistocene MIS cycles, early human presence above 51° latitude during a glacial stage and handaxe production in northern Europe from MIS 17 to 16.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipCEECINST/00052/2021
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41559-025-02829-x
dc.identifier.issn2397-334X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/27746
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherNature Research
dc.relationCEECINST/00052/2021
dc.relation.ispartofNature Ecology & Evolution
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleHominin glacial-stage occupation 712,000 to 424,000 years ago at Fordwich Pit, Old Park (Canterbury, UK)eng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.titleNature Ecology & Evolution
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameProffitt
person.givenNameTomos
person.identifier.ciencia-id7E1B-38E4-1DBC
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-1428-2013
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationd7354c31-d7bb-483c-85c7-afa3635f3f89
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryd7354c31-d7bb-483c-85c7-afa3635f3f89

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