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Journal article
Hominins likely occupied northern Europe before one million years ago
Our understanding of when hominins first reached northern Europe is dependent on a fragmented archaeological and fossil record known from as early as marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 or 25 (c. 840 or 950 thousand years ago [Ka]). This contrasts sharply with southern Europe, where hominin occupation is evidenced from...Key, Alastair ; Ashton, Nick
early human dispersal , hominin demography, and Lower Palaeolithic
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Journal article
Flake tools in the European Lower Paleolithic: a case study from MIS 9 Britain
Studies of flake tools in the British Lower Paleolithic are rare owing to lower quantities of flake tools than handaxes and the perception that flake tool technology became more important in the succeeding Middle Paleolithic. In Britain, and Europe more broadly, MIS 9 (328–301 ka) has been characterized as a...Rawlinson, Aaron ; Dale, Luke ; Ashton, Nick ; Bridgland, David ; White, Mark
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Journal article
Acheulean variability in Western Europe: the case of Menez-Dregan I (Plouhinec, Finistère, France)
The establishment of the Acheulean in Europe occurred after MIS 17, but it was after the harsh glaciation of MIS 12 and during the long interglacial of MIS 11 that human occupation of Western Europe became more sustained, with an increased number of sites. Menez-Dregan I (Brittany, France) is one...Ravon, Anne-Lyse ; García-Medrano, Paula ; Moncel, Marie-Hélène ; Ashton, Nick
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Journal article
Objectifying processes: The use of geometric morphometrics and multivariate analyses on Acheulean tools
Nowadays, the fruitful discussion regarding the morphological variability of handaxes during the Middle Pleistocene has reached a decisive moment with the use of more accurate statistical methods, such as geometric morphometrics (GM) and multivariate analyses (MA). This paper presents a preliminary methodological approach for checking the utility of these new...García-Medrano, Paula ; Maldonado-Garrido, Elías ; Ashton, Nick ; Ollé, Andreu
Boxgrove, Middle Pleistocene, handaxes, multivariate analyses, geometric morphometrics, Swanscombe, and Acheulean
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Journal article
Twisted handaxes in Middle Pleistocene Britain and their implications for regional-scale cultural variation and the deep history of Acheulean hominin groups
A better understood chronological framework for the Middle Pleistocene of Britain has enabled archaeologists to detect a number of temporally-restricted assemblage-types, based not on ‘culture historical’ schemes of typological progression but on independent dating methods and secure stratigraphic frameworks, especially river-terrace sequences. This includes a consistent pattern in the timing...White, Mark ; Ashton, Nick ; Bridgland, David
ovate handaxes, social networks, Middle Pleistocene, hominin settlement, and Acheulean
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Journal article
From site to museum: a critical assessment of collection history on the formation and interpretation of the British Early Palaeolithic record
The British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic record makes an important contribution to understanding the early occupation of northern Europe, in particular, through the detailed, systematic and multidisciplinary excavations of key sites. However, it is the historic collections, amassed by a large number of collectors over a 100-year period from the...Harris, Claire R.E. ; Ashton, Nick ; Lewis, Simon G.
Collecting, UK, Museum, Early Palaeolithic, and Handaxes
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Journal article
Cultural mosaics, social structure, and identity: The Acheulean threshold in Europe
The period between 600 and 400 ka is a critical phase for human evolution in Europe. The south and northwest saw a dramatic increase in sites, the spread of handaxe technology alongside bone and wooden tool manufacture, efficient hunting techniques, and the use of fire. Lithic assemblages show considerable variation,...Ashton, Nick ; Davis, Rob
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Journal article
Early Pleistocene human occupation at the edge of the boreal zone in northwest Europe
The dispersal of early humans from Africa by 1.75 Myr ago led to a marked expansion of their range, from the island of Flores in the east to the Iberian peninsula in the west. This range encompassed tropical forest, savannah and Mediterranean habitats, but has hitherto not been demonstrated beyond 45°...Parfitt, Simon ; Ashton, Nick ; Lewis, Simon ; Abel, Richard L. ; Coope, G. Russell …
Happisburgh; human footprints; Lower Paleolithic; Early Pleistocene; Britain; Europe
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Journal article
Human occupation of Northern Europe in MIS 13: a response to comments by Gibbard et al. (2019)
In a recent paper (Lewis et al., 2019) we reported the results of geological and archaeological investigations at Happisburgh Site 1. We also considered the significance of the site for understanding the human occupation of northern Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene. In a comment on the paper, Gibbard et...Lewis, Simon ; Ashton, Nick ; Hoare, Peter G. ; Parfitt, Simon
Happisburgh; human footprints; Lower Paleolithic; Early Pleistocene; Britain; Europe
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Journal article
Human occupation of northern Europe in MIS 13: Happisburgh Site 1 (Norfolk, UK) and its European context
The timing, environmental setting and archaeological signatures of an early human presence in northern Europe have been longstanding themes of Palaeolithic research. In the space of 20 years, the earliest record of human occupation in Britain has been pushed back from 500 ka (Boxgrove) to 700 ka (Pakefield) and then...Lewis, Simon ; Ashton, Nick ; Field, Michael H. ; Hoare, Peter G. ; Kamermans, Hans …
Happisburgh; human footprints; Lower Paleolithic; Early Pleistocene; Britain; Europe