Lower Paleolithic
Stone was already in use by the Homo erectus estimated at around a million years ago but the early stone tools that have been found were not as advanced or distinguished as they appeared from naturally split rocks and the stone axe was not yet invented, but the type of sharpness and shape the stones had, one could easily guess, these were made by early humans.
With the discovery of bones and remains with flint tools found near Happisburg, a coastal area in Norfolk, it proves the presence of the Homo erectus around 700,000 years ago. It was clear from this that humans moved freely between southern and eastern Britain which was then linked to the continent of Europe by a wide land bridge.
The English Channel was said to be a large river flowing in a westward direction linked by several tributaries out of which the Thames and the Seine are the ones everyone knows of. A string of early sites have been found by archaeologists which talk about a lost watercourse 'Bytham River' which would have been used as the early route to enter Britain from the west side.
Another set of hominid (Homo heidelbergensis) remains were discovered in Boxgrove, West Sussex in 1993. These were said to be 500,000 years old. It was understood that Homo heidelbergensis used stone tools probably made from wood, horn, bone and antlers etc, but there still is not enough proof to validate this. Hunting was again the main source of food along with the food gathering practices being followed during those times. Stone tools were made by chipping the stone to form sharpness, an example, a hand axe.
Humans or Homo erectus lived in groups and were known for their hunting and gathering food, for living during those times, and they also made Acheulean Flint tools and may have hunted larger mammals like the elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses etc by driving them over the mountain cliffs or stone cliffs into some kind of bog killing them easily. Recently on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, 275,000 year old camp fire remains were discovered making it certain about the movements of Homo erectus in groups/family groups.
Humans or Homo erectus disappeared from Britain following the extreme cold Anglian glaciations as nothing as such has been discovered or been found of that time which supposedly lasted until the ice melted during the Hoxnian interglacial after which the warmer period started and lasted from around 420,000 years until 360,000 years ago. During this time remains of Clactonian flint tools were found at the Barnfield Pit in Kent possibly brought from humans who had arrived from Africa. These kinds of flint tools gave an extra boost to the hunting methods and marked an era of advancement and a worthwhile place to live.
Archaeologists still believe there may be enough evidence to prove the kind of occupation Homo erectus were in during the subsequent Ipswichian interglacial somewhere between 180,000 and 70,000 years ago. The fact that we have not found anymore evidence may be down to previous glaciations melt waters which took Britain away from the continent for the first time.
For sure, from our early human ancestors existing for over 1.5million years, Homo erectus has been the most dominant and successful where the kind of archaeological evidence of their remains has left everyone wondering how much more there is to uncover. Original Authors: Rohit Maini
Edit Update Authors: M.Harris
Updated On: 13/05/2008
