300,000 Year-old Stone Artefacts Discovered

ASE Senior Archaeologist Letty Ingrey inspects the largest handaxe

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Researchers at University College London have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain. The discoveries were made at Frindsbury in Kent where artefacts were recovered from deep Ice Age deposits above the Medway Valley. A total of eight hundred stone artefacts believed to be over 300,000 years old were recovered.

The unearthed artefacts included two very large flint knives described as “giant handaxes.” It is thought that this type of tool was usually held in the hand and may have been used for butchering animals and cutting meat.

The largest handaxe measured 29.5cm in length and is currently the third largest known to be found in Britain. ‘Giant handaxes’ like this are usually found in the Thames and Medway regions and date from over 300,000 years ago.

One of the handaxes at the point of discovery on site.
Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Letty Ingrey, a senior archaeologist from the University College London Institute of Archaeology, explained that they likely date back to an interglacial period approximately 300,000 to 330,000 years ago.

“While right now, we aren’t sure why such large tools were being made, or which species of early human were making them, this site offers a chance to answer these exciting questions.”

stated Ms Ingrey.

The site is thought to date to a period in the early prehistory of Britain when Neanderthal people and their cultures were beginning to emerge and may even have shared the landscape with other early human species. During this period the Medway Valley would have been a wild landscape of wooded hills and river valleys, where red deer, horses, now-extinct straight-tusked elephants, and lions roamed freely.

Excavations revealed artefacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley. 

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

        This exceptionally large axe may have had a specialised function in early human society, or relate to specific human groups, or even human species. Handaxes are stone artefacts that have been chipped, or knapped, on both sides to produce a symmetrical shape with a long cutting edge. 

The largest giant handaxe photographed from four different angles.

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Throughout Africa and Europe, handaxes have been discovered at various archaeological sites dating back from 1.7 million to 300,000 years ago. By 200,000 years ago, many innovations had been made in stone tool technology. For example, large handaxes became less common and were replaced with a range of smaller tools in more diverse toolkits. Tools made of flakes were favoured over large cores.

Today, modern humans or Homo sapiens, inhabit the whole earth. Looking back over the last half a million years, the picture was much more diverse, with three distinct lineages appearing: Homo erectus in Asia; and Homo heidelbergensis giving rise to Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens in Africa.

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Neanderthals occupied Europe for at least 100,000 years during a period when glacial cycles dominated the climate. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago.

The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and another extinct line of humans known as the Denisovans. Modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans shared a common ancestor who lived roughly 600,000 years ago.

For further information see:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/jul/giant-stone-artefacts-found-rare-ice-age-site-kent

https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue61/6/full-text.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-66112136

Lough Gara - A Glimpse into the Past

Stone Implements - Irish Stone Axe Project

Recently, I came across a list of artefacts found on the shore and in the vicinity of Lough Gara, on the border between County Sligo and County Roscommon. It makes impressive reading and highlights the archaeological importance of the lake which is renowned for its large number of crannogs. People have lived on or around this lake off and on for several thousand years leaving behind evidence of their presence in the form of stone axes, arrowheads, swords, spearheads and such like remnants.

The archaeological evidence suggests that crannogs, or at least platforms, may have been built in this lake in the Late Mesolithic around 4,000 BC. The practice of building on the shallow shores increased during the Late Bronze Age, 1200–800 BC, and again in the Early Medieval period around 600 AD. Some crannogs were also used as late as the 17th century. Estimates of the number of crannogs on Lough Gara range from 145 to 369. According to Christina Fredengren (2002), the Swedish archaeologist who carried out an extensive survey of the lake, the highest number of crannogs that can be claimed for Lough Gara is 190.

Lough Gara is not a particularly accessible lake for the casual visitor and the crannogs can be difficult to find. It is in the nature of wetland archaeology that such sites do not have much of a visible presence. In a sense, the lake’s past only comes alive when we consider the vast number of ancient tools, weapons and other objects discovered here over the years.

The Early Mesolithic period in Ireland runs from 8000 to 5500 BC and the Later Mesolithic from 5500 to 4000 BC. Radiocarbon dating of samples of wood show that there was human activity on Inch Island around 7330-7050 BC. The Lough Gara collection of Mesolithic artefacts is regarded as the largest in the West of Ireland.

Artefacts recovered from Lough Gara include:

Bann flakes 1053, Stone axes 133, saddle querns 3, rotary quern stones 6, stone discs 49, chertflakes 599, chert scrapers 14, chert arrowheads 9, flint flakes 7, hammer stones 22, bone pins 5, bone needles 2, human skulls 6, bone points 11, flint arrowheads 9, bronze rings 8, bronze pins 10, bronze sunflower pins 3, bronze spearheads 3, bronze daggers 4, iron spears 7, iron axe heads 19, bronze trumpet end 1, bronze swords 3, bronze axe head flanged 4, iron swords 6, blue glass bracelet 1 and copper coins 15.

5,000 year old axe with a wooden handle from Denmark

Over 133 stone axes alone have been discovered along the shores of Lough Gara with the largest concentration found along the Boyle River. Another large concentration of ten axes come from Inch Island in the middle of the lake. A small number have also been retrieved from other townlands such as Falleens, Tawnymucklagh, Ross and Derrymore Island.

Stone axes are normally ascribed to both the Mesolithic and the Neolithic periods. Polished stone axes, however, seem to appear first in the Neolithic while ground axes can belong to the Mesolithic. These tools were used for cutting, shaping and dressing wood. Perhaps, one of those axes was used to cut timbers for the nearby 3,000 year old togher or trackway in the townland of Creggan? 

It is likely that the lake waters, and especially the running waters of the rivers, were seen as places where depositions or offerings of suitable objects could be made. It has been suggested that the lake could have been a gathering-place for small groups during the late Mesolithic period.

Archaeologists’ use the term ‘lithic’ to refer to flaked stone tools such as arrowheads, scrapers, ground and polished stone axes and such like items. Killian Driscoll (2006) carried out a reappraisal of the lithics from Lough Gara excluding finds from excavations. He claims that the number of artefacts found in and around this lake has been underestimated. For example, the actual number of lithics recorded for the townlands of Tawnymucklagh and Lomcloon alone should be in the region of 928 - over twice the original estimate.

The discovery of quern stones from Lough Gara shows that these early inhabitants of the area around the lake were grinding corn to make bread and porridge. The presence of a bronze trumpet end points to the playing of music at gatherings and celebrations. Pins and broaches were used to fasten or adorn garments.

The Drumanone portal tomb was excavated by archaeologists in 1954 and was found to contain a considerable amount of cremated bone, indicating that the tomb was used to bury several individuals. A small polished stone axe was also found which archaeologists believe came from the Tievebulliagh Axe Factory in Co. Antrim. Other finds from this site include two flint flakes and a chert core scraper.

An Amber Necklace from Lough Gara dated to c 800-700 BC

Excavation of Rathtinaun crannog produced a hoard of various items, including:  a necklace of amber beads, rings of bronze, of pure tin and three of lead with gold-foil cover, a pair of tweezers, bronze pin and six boar tusks.

Many of the items found during the more recent excavation of the Sroove crannog were connected with personal appearance - a comb fragment, bone pins, iron pins and lignite bracelets. The discovery of a sewing needle suggests that people may have worked with textiles at this site.

The large and diverse number of artefacts from Lough Gara help to paint a picture of a people going about their everyday lives striving to survive with meagre resources. They speak to us through the items they left behind giving us a tantalising glimpse of life in the area long ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UXyGBjjq5o

Christina Fredengren (2002) Crannogs: A study of people's interaction with lakes, with particular reference to Lough Gara in the north-west of Ireland
Killian Driscoll (2006) The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the Social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland