A Neanderthal Reminder from the Hoo Peninsula

By David Goldsmith

This iconic example of a Middle Palaeolithic Bout Coupe handaxe was recovered during a watching brief in the autumn of 2015. This artefact was selected for this article due to its importance as a cultural and typological marker of this time period and locality, which makes it eminently relevant as an object for local study.

The distribution of this type of Middle Palaeolithic handaxe has been well defined by White and Jacobi (2002) and Tyldesley (1987), being largely restricted to southern Britain with the areas around the Thames and Medway valleys and their tributaries being especially well represented.

The handaxe being considered in this article was found in what appears to be a secondary context, with its find position determined by a downward movement, the original brickearth environment eroded by water, allowing a gentle, vertical descent and settlement onto the subsoil from which it was recovered. The subsoil on which it settled is proposed to be of a Marine Isotope Stage 3 period. This fits well with the date range implied for implements of this type, 52k - 44k BP (Pettitt, White 2012).

Extreme frost crazing, rubification and bisection with ice wedges and lenses were noted in the subsoil, on and around the find location, all of which are consistent with extreme cold. In this case it is proposed to have been the Devensian glaciation period.

The axe is triangular in shape, like others noted by Roe, (1981) and measures 112mm in length by 79mm in width and 34mm depth. It weighs 273g. With no modern flake removal or other damage to reveal the underlying flint, the colour of it is not readily discernible. Small chips are now obscured by a marbled blue/white patina that typically occurs in such ancient exposed flint artefacts. These occurred in the distant past and are most probably the result of use-associated wear. This patination is overlain with iron staining, more pronounced on one face, which may indicate a lack of movement over a long period of time.

The original flake scars show little damage, other than some small thermal fractures and some crushing on elevated areas. Whilst this artefact cannot be classified as being in pristine condition, it does not show signs of having been rolled, though the heavy patina may mask signs which would allow for a more correct post deposition and use-wear assessment.

In common with other artefacts of this type, this hand axe has been knapped centripetally on both faces, one having finer flaking than the other. The avoidance on the part of the knapper of an inclusion and a small fault-line are notable features, which would have been worked around to avoid the possibility of damage sufficient to fracture the handaxe and make it unusable. In common with many other hand axes of this type there is no evidence of further usage.

ABOVE: Bout coupé handaxe in situ on Hoo Peninsula

There are many such axes held in museum collections, Maidstone Museum has some fine examples from New Hythe Lane and Ham Hill, which the writer has compared to the axe under consideration here. However, the axe most resembling this artefact is in the British Museum collection. Though larger, the British Museum example, illustrated in Roe (1981 p 248) was found at Tilbury around 1915 (donated to the BM by RA Smith), has a similar knapping style, shown by its flake position, angle and overall shape, being somewhat larger but very similar to the axe found on the Hoo Peninsula.

Both these axes, and another from Oldbury Hill, which could not be examined (currently on loan to Jersey Museum), have inclusions that appear to have determined the flaking pattern. They also have similar flaws in the flint about 3cm from this inclusion. The writer would suggest that, as noted by Roe (1981 p.254) this may be because, at this time, there were only a few individual makers and it is not outside the bounds of possibility that not only were these axes made by the same person but that they came from the same flint nodule.

More in-depth work is needed and the writer intends continuing his study of the Bout Coupe axes in Maidstone and other museums which will give a more detailed account of these most fascinating tools left by our later Neanderthal cousins.

TOP Bout coupe handaxe found on Hoo Peninsula

BELOW LEFT AND RIGHT Comparison of British Museum example (left) and handaxe found on Hoo Peninsula (right)

Acknowledgements

British Museum trustees for use of images containing the tilbury example.

Angela Muthana, for assistance with writing this article and help with the Maidstone Museum collections.

Steven Goldsmith for recovering this artifact.

David Bridgland, Mark White and Peter Allen for site visits and much needed advice.

References

Pettitt, P White, M. (2012). The British Palaeolithic Human Societies at the Edge of the Pleistocene World. Routledge, London.

Roe, D.A. (1981) The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Periods in Britain. Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, London

Tyldesley, J. (1987) The Bout Coupe. A Typological Problem.

White, M.J. Roger M. Jacobi (2002). Two Sides to Every Story. Bout Coupe Handaxes Revisited

Bibliography

Bridgland, D.R. (1994) Quaternary of the Thames. Chapman and Hall

Bridgland, D.R. Allen, P & White, T.S, (2014) The Quaternary of the Lower Thames & Eastern Essex. Quaternary Research Association, London