Late Glacial Long Blade Sites in the Kennet Valley: Excavations and Fieldwork at Avington VI, Wawcott XII and Crown Acres

Abstract

• 10,000 years ago, late Ice Age and early post-glacial communities moved through the Kennet Valley to the Thames, following game and taking advantage of sheltered positions to make their camps. Favourable geological conditions in the neighbourhood of Newbury have preserved several of these camp sites in situ. One of these, Avington VI, has revealed evidence of structures which are, so far, unique in Britain. The remarkable concentrations of Long Blade artefacts provide insights into the daily activities of the hunters who lived there. Other sites fill in the details about ecological conditions during this period of climate change and how humans adapted to them.