Palaeolithic

600000-9000BC

The first traces of early humans within the British Isles are around half a million years old. These traces are not found consistently throughout this period due to climatic changes, alternating between inhospitable ice ages and warmer interglacial episodes. The range of evidence available is limited and comprises a small range of stone tools and animal bones with butchery marks. It is often not possible to identify exactly which part of the Palaeolithic such finds date to.

Early Cave Site

At Westbury-sub-Mendip (PRN 24849) quarrying for limestone in 1969 revealed an infilled cave. The quarrying activity exposed a 100m wide cross section of the fill of the cave. The cross section was composed of layers of sand and gravel over which were layers of fossil rich cave sediments. Further investigation recovered bones and teeth of several species of animal including extinct types such as sabre-toothed cat, jaguar and rhinoceros. The types of animals found suggest that the cave sediments are from the very early, or ‘Lower’ Palaeolithic period.

Associated with the faunal remains were a number of flint and chert artefacts and these are believed to be some of the earliest evidence for hominids in Britain. Further proof of human habitation has been found by study of the mammal bones at the Natural History Museum. Close examination has revealed cut marks on the bones, suggesting butchery of the carcass.

Handaxes

The remaining evidence for Lower Palaeolithic occupation in Somerset is generally restricted to the finding of stone implements, especially hand axes. These have been found on the Mendip plateau, around the Quantock Hills and in the Chard and Yeovil areas as well as the Vale of Taunton. In this last locale recent fieldwork located specific concentrations of material at surface sites near Norton Fitzwarren (PRN 43399 and PRN 44292) and Trull (PRN 43525 and PRN 43710). The finds at Trull were particularly interesting with a major concentration of both stone tools and waste flakes from their manufacture. It is possible that this site may have served as a base point for hunting and other food procuring activities.

A number of hand axes have also been found along the West Somerset Coast (e.g. PRN 34161). Many were made of a stone not available in the immediate area suggesting that the users of the tools roamed a relatively wide area in their hunt for food and material. The axe types are comparable with many found in the Thames Valley indicating that most were in use between about 425,000 and 300,000 years ago.

Period Summaries introduction