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Mammoths and Neanderthals in the Thames Valley: Excavations at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire
Abstract and Figures
This richly illustrated book gives a detailed account of excavations that extended over
ten years at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, following the discovery of a mammoth tusk
in 1989. More than 1500 vertebrate fossils and a wealth of other biological material
were recorded and recovered, along with 36 stone artefacts attributable to
Neanderthals.
Today the Upper Thames Valley is a region of green pastures and well-managed
farmland, interspersed with pretty villages and intersected by a meandering river.
The discovery in 1989 of a mammoth tusk in river gravels at Stanton Harcourt,
Oxfordshire, revealed the very different ancient past of this landscape. Here, some
200,000 years ago, mammoths, straight-tusked elephants, lions, and other animals
roamed across grasslands with scattered trees, occasionally disturbed by small bands
of Neanderthals.
The pit where the tusk was discovered, destined to become a waste disposal site,
provided a rare opportunity to conduct intensive excavations that extended over a
period of 10 years. This work resulted in the recording and recovery of more than 1500
vertebrate fossils and an abundance of other biological material, including insects,
molluscs, and plant remains, together with 36 stone artefacts attributable to
Neanderthals. The well-preserved plant remains include leaves, nuts, twigs and large
oak logs. Vertebrate remains notably include the most comprehensive known
assemblage of a distinctive small form of the steppe mammoth, Mammuthus
trogontherii, that is characteristic of an interglacial period equated with marine isotope
stage 7 (MIS 7).
Richly illustrated throughout, Mammoths and Neanderthals in the Thames Valley
offers a detailed account of all these finds and will be of interest to Quaternary
specialists and students alike.
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... The taxa were selected because their teeth are abundant at many of the sites in the Thames Valley and at other Eurasian Quaternary sites (Allison et al., 1952;Stuart, 1982;Lister, 2022) and biostratigraphy (Lister and Sher, 2001) Hardwick (Upper Thames) M. primigenius (4) MIS 4-2 Biostratigraphy (Briggs et al., 1985) and terrace stratigraphy (Bridgland, 1994) (2) MIS 5a-3 Terrace stratigraphy (Bridgland, 1994), OSL dating (Maddy et al., 1998), biostratigraphy (Maddy et al., 1998;Scott and Buckingham, 2021) and IcPD dating of shell and opercula (Penkman et al., 2007 Biostratigraphy (Eeles, 2009) and OSL dating (Scott, 2018). Also present at the site are Middle Iron Age Causeways and a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age 'burnt-mound' site ( Eeles, 2009 (5) MIS 3 Biostratigraphy (Briggs et al., 1985;Lister, 2022), terrace stratigraphy (Bridgland, 1994) and radiocarbon ages of ca. ...
... 36 ka and 34 ka BP on mammoth bone and tusk (Lister, 2022 The Equus teeth from Eynsham (OUMNH PAL-Q.15205 and PAL-Q.15206) are unmarked and the exact provenance of the teeth is uncertain. The Eynsham Gravel has been correlated with MIS 5e due to the presence of H. amphibius (Currant and Jacobi, 2001); however, the occurrence of horse teeth in these gravels is unlikely due to the well-known absence of horse in Britain during MIS 5e (Schreve, 2001 (Zhou et al., 1997), U-series dating of bone (Pike et al., 2002;Lewis et al., 2006), IcPD dating of shell and opercula (Penkman et al., 2007 and biostratigraphy (Scott and Buckingham, 2021). Latton (Upper Thames) M. trogontherii (6) E. ferus (2) MIS 7 Biostratigraphy (Scott and Buckingham, 2021;Scott, 2001;Lewis et al., 2006), U-series dating of bone (Lewis et al., 2006) and IcPD dating of shell (Penkman et al., 2007). ...
... The Eynsham Gravel has been correlated with MIS 5e due to the presence of H. amphibius (Currant and Jacobi, 2001); however, the occurrence of horse teeth in these gravels is unlikely due to the well-known absence of horse in Britain during MIS 5e (Schreve, 2001 (Zhou et al., 1997), U-series dating of bone (Pike et al., 2002;Lewis et al., 2006), IcPD dating of shell and opercula (Penkman et al., 2007 and biostratigraphy (Scott and Buckingham, 2021). Latton (Upper Thames) M. trogontherii (6) E. ferus (2) MIS 7 Biostratigraphy (Scott and Buckingham, 2021;Scott, 2001;Lewis et al., 2006), U-series dating of bone (Lewis et al., 2006) and IcPD dating of shell (Penkman et al., 2007). Wolvercote Channel (Upper Thames) P. antiquus (1) E. ferus (3) ...
Amino acid geochronology can provide effective relative dating frameworks for the Pleistocene and has enabled correlation of terrestrial deposits to the global climatic fluctuations described by the marine oxygen isotope record. Using methods developed for the analysis of intra-crystalline amino acids in tooth enamel, we aimed to construct an enamel-based amino acid geochronology for the terrace deposits in the valley of the River Thames in southern Britain using different mammalian taxonomic groups: elephant, horse and bison. To achieve this, chiral amino acid analysis was applied to 58 elephantid, 21 horse and 15 bison teeth from 10 horizons in the Upper Thames Valley, three in the Lower Thames Valley and one from a Thames tributary in the Lea Valley. We evaluate differences in the rates of amino acid breakdown between the taxa and establish which species are similar enough to enable comparison for relative dating purposes. The relative dating of the river terrace deposits is in good agreement with the terrace stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and other independent estimates of age for all three taxonomic groups. These frameworks demonstrate the potential of enamel-based amino acid geochronologies for relative dating of Middle–Late Pleistocene deposits in the UK, and establish an aminostratigraphic framework from which the dating of other tooth material can be refined. Enamel offers an opportunity to evaluate the age of sites where shell material is absent or poorly preserved. It can also, crucially, provide direct relative dating of mammalian fossils, which are often the focus of study in terms of their evolution, distributional changes or extinction. Direct dating negates the risk that the mammal fossils themselves might be reworked, or of different ages to shell, sediments or other dated material in the same deposits; it also enables archived samples with insecure provenance (e.g. from early 17th-19th century collections) to be directly dated.
... Indeed, similar vertebrate, invertebrate and plant macrofossil assemblages to those at Oak Tree Field and Latton are also reported at Strensham (Worcestershire) in the Avon valley (de Rouffignac et al. 1995) and in the later layers (1 and 2) of the lower channel at Marsworth (Buckinghamshire) (Green et al. 1984, Schreve 1997, Murton et al. 2001 Merck's rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) are absent from the sites listed above. Overall, the impression from Oak Tree Field, Latton, Strensham and the later MIS 7 layers at Marsworth is of isolated stands of trees in an environment even more open than that envisaged for the Sandy Lane MAZ-type sequence at Aveley (Essex) (Schreve 1997(Schreve , 2001 or the geographically closest (to Oak Tree Field) manifestation of the MAZ at Stanton Harcourt (Oxfordshire) (Scott and Buckingham 2021). Another notable absence from Oak Tree Field, Latton, Strensham and layers 1 and 2 of the lower channel at Marsworth is the bivalve mollusc Corbicula fluminalis, which is distinctive of MIS 7 (Keen 1990, Meijer and Preece 2000 and found with vertebrate fossils of the Sandy Lane MAZ in fluvial deposits, including in profusion at Stanton Harcourt (Scott and Buckingham 2021). ...
... Overall, the impression from Oak Tree Field, Latton, Strensham and the later MIS 7 layers at Marsworth is of isolated stands of trees in an environment even more open than that envisaged for the Sandy Lane MAZ-type sequence at Aveley (Essex) (Schreve 1997(Schreve , 2001 or the geographically closest (to Oak Tree Field) manifestation of the MAZ at Stanton Harcourt (Oxfordshire) (Scott and Buckingham 2021). Another notable absence from Oak Tree Field, Latton, Strensham and layers 1 and 2 of the lower channel at Marsworth is the bivalve mollusc Corbicula fluminalis, which is distinctive of MIS 7 (Keen 1990, Meijer and Preece 2000 and found with vertebrate fossils of the Sandy Lane MAZ in fluvial deposits, including in profusion at Stanton Harcourt (Scott and Buckingham 2021). It is of course possible that ecology might be the reason for the lack of C. fluminalis at the four sites. ...
... Further downstream, Stanton Harcourt produced derived artefacts from the base of MIS 6 gravels (referred to the 'Gravelly Guy' quarry) (MacRae 1990) and artefacts in near primary context from excavation of the MIS 7 'Stanton Harcourt Channel' deposits, these latter associated with a significant vertebrate assemblage (Buckingham et al. 1996, Buckingham 2007, Scott and Buckingham 2021. Thirty-six Table 10. ...
Investigations at Oak Tree Fields, Cerney Wick, Gloucestershire, in western England have revealed a sequence of fluvial deposits dating from Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 to 5. At the base of the sequence, a series of gravel and sand facies were deposited, initially as part of a meandering river. Reductions in flow energy of the latter and avulsion led to the development of short‐lived channels and episodic backwater environments, the deposits of which are recorded as Facies Associations 1–3. Poorly sorted, probably colluvial deposits formed beyond the limit of the channel (Facies Association 4). Mollusca, Coleoptera, plant macrofossils, pollen and vertebrates recovered from the channel facies indicate broadly similar climatic conditions throughout accretion. Temperature ranges derived from mutual climatic range analysis of the Coleoptera almost completely overlap with those of Cerney Wick at the present day, albeit that winters may have been cooler when the channel was active. Further, the floral and faunal data suggest that the meandering river flowed through an open grassland environment, the latter heavily grazed by large vertebrates, most notably mammoth. Most of the botanical and faunal remains, together with four optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age estimates ranging from 225 ± 23 to 187 ± 19 ka, suggest correlation of the channel deposits with MIS 7. The basal deposits (Facies Association 1) yielded the majority of vertebrate remains and all the lithic artefacts, most of which seem likely to have travelled only a short distance. Although only a few artefacts were recovered, they add to the relatively limited evidence of human activity from the upper Thames. The channel deposits are overlain by sheet gravels (Facies Association 5) which are attributed to the Northmoor Member of the Upper Thames Formation. These were likely to have been deposited as bedload in a braided stream environment, while two OSL age estimates of 129 ± 14 and 112 ± 11 ka suggest accumulation during MIS 5.
This thesis examines the evolution of the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) in Pleistocene Europe where it was a conspicuous interglacial faunal element from around 780,000 until 30,000 years ago. This study investigates the evolution of P. antiquus through variation in dental and skeletal morphology by making comparisons between and within interglacial populations correlated with stages of the marine isotope record. The study finds that there is variation within populations at a local level but that mainly there is broad stasis through the evolutionary history of P. antiquus in northern Europe. This can be explained by P. antiquus having done most of its evolving in East Africa prior to its migration into Europe and by its accommodating climatic change through the Pleistocene by migrating to southern European refugia during glacial periods. P. antiquus was the sister-group of a number of dwarf elephants found on Mediterranean islands. In the present study the dwarf elephants of Cyprus are examined and the effect of size reduction from a ten tonne ancestor to a 200 kg animal investigated. The teeth of the dwarf elephant, Palaeoloxodon Cypriotes, show isometric scaling compared to P. antiquus, maintaining a similar shaped tooth but deviating from the growth line of P. antiquus; this is related to maintenance of function. The teeth of the dwarf show positive allometric scaling to the rest of the skeleton. The validity of the genus Palaeoloxodon is upheld in this study and the derivation of Eurasian Palaeoloxodon from Palaeoloxodon recki in Africa is examined. Comparison is also made between P. antiquus and Mammuthus species as are the effects on the former through competition with mammoth.
Since 2002 extensive studies have been carried out on the surface scatters of Early and Middle Stone Age (ESA and MSA) artefacts in western Namibia, with additional studies in north-central and southern Namibia. The distribution of intense artefact scatters coincides with geological formations that contain quartzitic sandstones that were the preferred lithic resource for tool manufacture. Away from these rocks, surface artefacts still occur but with much less frequency.
In this, the first ever large-scale survey of surface scatters from the Palaeolithic, it is argued that despite loss of buried context, surface studies offer information on Palaeolithic lifestyles that cannot be obtained from excavation alone. It is shown beyond doubt that on flat surfaces away from streams larger cutting tools are likely to remain roughly where they were dropped indefinitely. By use of the Edge Test, a digital program to measure amount of section mass lost from artefact edges, the relative age of different typologies from surface contexts can be demonstrated.
The evidence from Western Namibia suggests that choice of settlement areas in the ESA and early MSA was determined not only by available water but also by access to quality lithic raw material, and that early humans were accomplished field geologists. To a large extent the geology map is the key to ESA and early MSA archaeology.
Analysis: of the predictable breakdown of proteins and amino acids in ancient biominerals enables age estimation over the Quaternary. We postulate that enamel is a suitable biomineral for the long-term survival of endogenous amino acids. Analysis of multiple amino acids for geochronological studies is typically achieved using a RP-HPLC method. However, the low concentrations of amino acids coupled with high concentrations of inorganic species make accurate determination of amino concentrations challenging. We have developed a method for the routine preparation of multiple enamel samples using biphasic separation. Furthermore, we have shown that amino acids that exhibit effectively closed system behaviour can be isolated from enamel through an exposure time of 72 h to bleach. Elevated temperature experiments investigating the processes of intra-crystalline protein degradation (IcPD) do not appear to match the patterns from fossil samples, reinforcing the need for a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms of protein degradation. This novel preparative method isolates intra-crystalline amino acids suitable for the development of mammalian geochronologies based on enamel protein degradation. The lower rates of racemization in enamel (cf. Bithynia opercula) suggest that the enamel AAR may be able to be used as a relative dating technique over time scales >2.8 Ma. Enamel AAR has the potential to directly date mammalian remains past the limit of all other current direct dating methods, providing an invaluable tool for geochronological studies.
This article interprets the life conditions of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) from the Upper Paleolithic archaeological site Kraków Spadzista in Poland. We propose that the mammoths’ irregular mortality profile (also known as age profile) was shaped over several decades by major death events, which serially depleted the youngest cohorts.
Taphonomic data and comparisons with other Eurasian archaeological and nonarchaeological sites provide context for hypothesizing that the mammoth-bone assemblage was accumulated at least partly through opportunistic human hunting of the most vulnerable animals in mixed herds. Humans exploited heightened mammoth vulnerability during climatic stress periods, killing and butchering most of the animals, although some mammoths in the assemblage may have died from natural causes. The evidence for environmental stress affecting the mammoths includes paleoecological data about local climatic conditions, the abundant signs of mammoth-bone abnormalities in the assemblage, the relatively smaller size of adult female mammoths compared with those from the similarly dated archaeological site Milovice I (Czech Republic), and the unusually high proportion of juvenile mammoths in the assemblage.
Cave bear (Ursus spelaeus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), and Neanderthals were potential competitors for environmental resources (shelters and food) in Europe. In order to reinforce this view and contribute to the ongoing debate on late Neanderthal behavior, we present evidence from zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of bear bone remains discovered at Rio Secco Cave and Fumane Cave in northeast Italy, an extended geographic area north of the Adriatic Sea. The remains from both caves come from layers dated to 49-42 ky cal. BP, and suggest close interactions between humans and bears, with data not only limited to the association of Mousterian lithic artifacts with numerous bear remains, but also the detection of clearly preserved traces of human modification such as cut and percussion marks, which enable a reconstruction of the main steps of fur recovery and the butchering process. Examples of Neanderthal bear exploitation are extremely sporadic in Europe, and Grotta Rio Secco and Grotta Fumane can be considered rare cases of remain accumulations generated by the human predation of bears of varied age classes during or near the end of hibernation. All of this evidence suggests that bears had a strategic role in the nomadic economy of Neanderthal hunting groups.
Britain has a rich and well-documented earlier Palaeolithic record, which provides a unique resource to investigate population dynamics and the cultural and geographical links with north-west Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. This paper examines a newly enhanced dataset for the distribution of finds locations and their geological context. Using artefact types as proxies for different populations it contrasts the Lower Palaeolithic and Early Middle Palaeolithic records. New methods are devised to mitigate for the clear bias towards handaxes in collection history. Taking account of this bias, the results suggest differences in distribution between Lower Palaeolithic and Early Middle Palaeolithic populations, with the latter more heavily concentrated in the lower reaches of large southern and eastern rivers. Drawing on recent studies on the palaeogeography of the Channel and southern North Sea Basin, the paper suggests that this restricted distribution reflects short-lived occupation by small groups of early Neanderthals in late MIS 8, who eventually became locally extinct because of isolation caused by rising sea levels in the first warm sub-stage of MIS 7.
This paper summarizes standard methods for estimating ontogenetic ages of individual proboscideans and alternative approaches to presenting the data. Age (a.k.a. mortality) profiling of multiple-mammoth assemblages can provide information about possible causes of death, population health, and other ecologically significant topics, even when the assemblages have been time-averaged. However, caution must be exercised in how the age profiles are calculated and interpreted, to avoid potential misdirection or error.
Bilateral symmetry in handaxes has significant implications for hominin cognitive and socio-behavioural evolution. Here the authors show that high levels of symmetry occur in the British Late Middle Pleistocene Acheulean, which they consider to be a deliberate, socially mediated act. Furthermore, they argue that lithic technology in general, and handaxes in particular, were part of a pleasure-reward system linked to dopamine-releasing neurons in the brain. Making handaxes made Acheulean hominins happy, and one particularly pleasing property was symmetry.
The accepted manuscript for this article can be downloaded from http://dro.dur.ac.uk/24760/
The use of Acheulean (handaxe) typology as a cultural and temporal marker has been a topic of controversy in recent decades, with many archaeologists continuing to reject such an approach out of hand. Much of the controversy stems, however, from difficulties in reconciling the archaeological record from Quaternary sediments with a flawed and overly simplified chronostratigraphical template. With the adoption of the ‘expanded chronology’ based on the marine oxygen isotope record, underpinned by biostratigraphical and geochronological dating, has come the recognition of a meaningful progression of artefact types, such as the first appearance of Levallois technique, attributed to MIS 9–8 over widespread parts of the Old World. More recently it has been established that assemblages in Britain with twisted ovate handaxes in significant numbers represent MIS 11 occupation, while those with significant proportions of cleavers and ‘ficron’ handaxes appear to be correlated with deposits formed at around the time of the MIS 9 interglacial. The recognition of such patterns stems largely from the well-dated Thames sequence; it should not be confused with the previous use, in the mid-20th century, of archaeological typology as a crude dating indicator based on a relative refinement of tool making. Key means of age constraint for the Thames sequence have been mammalian assemblage zones representing the last four interglacial cycles, molluscan biostragraphy and amino acid racemization dating of molluscan material, especially the calcitic opercula of the gastropod Bithynia tentaculata, thus providing a framework within which the archaeological patterns can be identified.