Promoting awareness of the archaeology and history
of north Devon
ACTIVITIES
WEST YEO
Archaeology Projects (external)
The Palaeolithic Rivers Project (Newsletter No 11 2006)
On Sunday 7th May, a small number of NDAS members responded to an invitation from the University of Reading Archaeology Department (publicised at the AGM in March) to join in a guided walk around Ottery St Mary.
The walk was a public relations exercise on behalf of the Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain Project which is funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund through English Heritage. On a very fine May morning we met at the Salston Manor Hotel outside Ottery St Mary where we were received by Rachel Young, the organiser and Dr Rob Hossfield, who was to be our guide. Rob began by pointing out that the study of the Palaeolithic, a period from roughly 700,000 years ago to about 40,000 years ago, is different from other archeology, in that stratified deposits of artefacts are rare and are found exclusively in caves. For the most part the evidence of human or hominin (human ancestor) activity is found in geological rather than cultural deposits, in fact 80% - 90% of the evidence of a Lower and Middle Palaeolithic human or hominin presence has been in the form of stone tools found in river sands and gravels. Artefacts have mainly come to light through gravel and sand extraction, and because of the distribution of Pleistocene sand and gravel deposits, relatively few examples have come from the south-west region. A notable exception is Broom Quarry in the valley of the Axe on the Devon/Dorset border. There, during the 19th and 20th centuries, well over 1,000 chert hand-axes were revealed. The reason for such a concentration is not at all clear. Since they apparently date from the Lower Palaeolithic (about 280,000 years ago), “factory” production is very unlikely. North Devon has produced very little evidence, though there was the flint handaxe found near Chittlehampton some years ago.
During the period from 1.6 million years ago to around 10,000 years ago, the era known as the Pleistocene, successive glaciations and interglacial periods heavily influenced drainage patterns, so that the courses and rates of flow of rivers altered considerably over time. Rivers that are now relatively insignificant, such as the Otter, were at earlier periods either broken up in a broad pattern of “braided” channels between shifting banks of sediment or were raging torrents rapidly downcutting through earlier sediments or through the geological base. The evidence of these changes in character and topography is to be found in the gravel terraces left behind. Such terraces are now frequently disguised as gently sloping grassy shelves on the sides of valleys, and it is not until it is found worthwhile for the gravel extraction industry to dig into them for aggregate that their nature is exposed.
One of the major aims of the Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain Project is to record and date the terraces of the rivers Axe, Exe and Otter and evaluate their archaeological content and potential. At the same time the National Ice Age Network (NIAN – www.iceage.org.uk) is working with the aggregates industry to establish a protocol for reporting and identifying Palaeolithic 16 finds uncovered during quarrying.
The purpose of the walk to which we had been invited
(one of four such walks on the Otter and the Exe with invitations sent
to schools, colleges and local societies) was to provide an understanding
of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the South-West, to interpret the
Otter landscape and to introduce some of the techniques of Palaeolithic
geoarchaeology.We walked for about two hours, beginning beside a stream
below the hotel where the shelves of former river terraces could be seen
on either side.
We then crossed a field dropping from one terrace to another towards the
River Otter and the town of Ottery St Mary which itself is built on a
terrace fragment above the present river. The terraces of the Otter can
rise to about 100m above the present flood-plain, a testimony to the very
considerable changes in sea-level and consequently river level during
the Pleistocene.
Continuing to a bridge over the Otter, we were able to compare the present
rather meagre river with its 500m wide flood-plain, and in the river bank
we saw deposits of flint and chert cobbles, such as would have provided
material for handaxes. The bedrock geology here is Otter sandstone, on
top of which sands and gravels have been laid down. As we passed through
the grounds of Cadhay House and took to a steep path, we were able to
observe the gravels beneath our feet and, in the side of the path –
a hollow-way, we could follow the junction between the bedrock and the
overlying sediments. To the south of the path was a small abandoned sand
quarry, evidence of the small-scale historic sand and gravel quarrying
operations compared to today’s industrial quarrying. And it was
principally in such small-scale quarries that 19th century workmen came
across artefacts which they perhaps passed on to archaeologists.
The walk concluded with a brief demonstration of flint-knapping and Rob continued to answer questions in a thoughtful, informative manner right up until 2.30 when he was due to start all over again. Those NDAS members who took part were very appreciative of what had been offered.
There is currently great interest in Ice Age Britain and the Palaeolithic leading to the setting up of the National Ice Age Network. Some years ago finds of flint artefacts and butchering waste together with a fragment of hominin bone at Boxgrove in West Sussex extended the human presence in Britain to over 500,000 years, and more recently flint handaxes found in ancient river deposits on the Norfolk coast have extended that period to 700,000 years. These finds demonstrate the scientific importance of understanding Pleistocene deposits which are frequently the source of aggregates for the construction industry.
The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund was set up in 2002 to develop the capacity to manage aggregate extraction in order to reduce its impact on the historic and physical environment. Our area does not attract the aggregate industry, but the lessons learnt elswhere in terms of recognising potential Palaeolithic find sites could well apply to the valleys of the Taw and Torridge and their tributary streams.