A previously unreported collection of Palaeolithic lithics from Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe, Kent

Issue 121Articles

1 Dec

By Stan Matthews

Do we now have more Clactonian further along the Darent Valley at Eynsford from around 400,000 years ago, and what about elsewhere in Kent?

The Clactonian lithic industry has been subject to extensive study (see background reading for those who wish to delve deeper). However, this article aims to publicise this collection, provide an introductory overview of our Clactonian lithics, and consider a more appropriate field walking/search strategy tailored to finding more such archaic artefacts in Kent. A more detailed analysis of the collection will be published in due course.

Introduction

In 2017, Shorne Woods Archaeology Group (SWAG) received an extensive collection of mixed lithics covering a long expanse of time from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Neolithic/Bronze Age, which the late Peter Tester collected (died 1994; see Background below).

This is significant because:

We now have 100+ artefacts belonging to the Clactonian lithic industry (see box 1) found in situ within the lower gravels of Barnfield Pit. This is below the middle gravels, which produced the “Swanscombe skull” and this additional material will aid in the further analysis of this archaic industry.
Of particular interest is that we also have some remarkably similar artefacts found high up along the Darent Valley in the clay-with-flint formation at Eynsford. This raises the question again – it has been raised before (J. Wymer, L. Blundell, Francis Wenban-Smith and others) - are we failing to spot archaic artefacts when they are mixed with later lithic industries and eoliths (eoliths were considered to be worked tools in Victorian times but were assessed as being caused by natural processes)?
Can we increase our understanding of the movement of early hunter- gatherers across Kent?

Box 1 – The Clactonian Lithic Industry

Unsurprisingly, the type-site where this industry was first classified is Clacton-on-Sea, Essex! It is believed that hunter-gatherers arrived after the severe Anglian Glaciation when southeast England became more habitable around 400,000 years ago.

The Clactonian is a relatively simple essential lithic industry consisting of “flakes and cores from which they were struck, some of the flakes bearing retouch and certain cores suggesting their use as choppers. There are no true handaxes in the Clactonian industry” (P.J.Tester, 1984). This is categorised as “Mode 1 Technology” (C, Butler, p60) and may be compared with Mode 2 Technology (C, Butler, p62), which does include handaxes.

Some classic Clactonian characteristics are:

Simple pebbles/nodules with 2, 3 or more flakes removed.
Flakes with abrupt flaking at the proximal end to facilitate easy handling.
Notched pieces on a flake. A large notch is a defining characteristic of Clactonian work.

Background

The late Peter Tester is known nationally and specifically to the Kent Archaeological Society (KAS) members as a former Vice President. He was a prolific contributor to Archaeologia Cantiana (Arch. Cant.) (obituary vol.112), and he actively participated in many important and diverse excavations around Kent. Many of his lithic finds now reside in the British and Dartford museums.

We now know that Peter Tester retained boxes of lithics, most of which were subsequently rescued by Peter Draper (KAS Librarian at Maidstone Museum) and stored in his garage. Following Peter Draper’s death, his wife Mary notified the Archive Centre, and Andrew Mayfield (Kent County Council’s Community Archaeologist) stepped in to ensure their safekeeping and appropriate recording for the archaeological record, thus allowing it to be available for future research and education. A further box of mixed lithics was later added to the collection donated by a relative of Peter Tester.

It is readily apparent that Peter Tester had a well-honed lithic knowledge as he published an account in Arch. Cant. (vol.100) detailing a representative collection of Clactonian artefacts retrieved from Rickson’s Pit (Swanscombe/ Ebbsfleet Valley) in 1952. He recognised these particular lithics as identical to those found in the lower gravels of Barnfield Pit, and he also acknowledged the similarity with those found at Clacton-on-Sea.

Collection artefacts

Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe

This collection includes a range of 105 Clactonian artefacts found in Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe (circa 1947-55) and these include cores, chopper cores, pointed tools, axe-edged tools and a mixture of worked flakes (some examples in Fig.1). Some of the flakes appear to have more than one purpose.

Most were retrieved in situ from the lower gravels, one specimen was recovered from the lower loam level, and fourteen were from Barnfield Pit with no specified deposit level. Two more items were retrieved from the adjacent Craylands Lane Pit.

Darent Valley and surrounding area

We also have a box of 85 mixed lithic artefacts of varying age, found in an area spanning Orpington to Bexley/Crayford, Dartford and along the Darent Valley to Eynsford/ Lullingstone and over to Ash near Wrotham (collected circa 1946-60’s). There is a mixture of Mesolithic and Neolithic/Bronze Age material, but the real surprise is there appears to be a potential 14 items of a more archaic lithic industry (some examples in Fig.2). These were found between 1946- 48 in a discreet area on the surface on the east side of the Darent Valley alongside Bower Lane in Eynsford. The geology is Clay- with Flints, which is a mixed-up deposit of clay, silt, sand and gravel, which has arisen from the effects of repeated cycles of freezing and thawing of the underlying chalk bedrock (containing the flint) over a long period (British Geographical Survey (BGS).

Therefore, it does not give any dates for the artefacts (see Clactonian in Kent para below). The BGS map extract in Fig 3 clearly shows this outcrop is a raised shoulder of land descending North to South.

Figs 1 a, b, c: Three Clactonian artefacts from Barnfield Pit (L to R with weight): A flake with notch (296g), A pebble core (219g) and a core with re-touch along the straight edge (670g). (Photographs by Charlie Matthews).

Figs 2a-2c: Three cores (Clactonian?) from Eynsford (L to R with weight): 345g, 488g & 398g (Photographs by Charlie Matthews)

As can be seen, the typology of the Eynsford artefacts is very similar to the Barnfield Pit examples, notwithstanding the differences in staining and patination arising from different ground conditions/ weathering at either site.

Regardless, can we deduce that we have Clactonian in Eynsford? Currently, assisted by the right geology, this may come down to assessing probability (see below).

Clactonian in Kent

As many regular readers of the KAS journal will know, clay-with- flints is the “go-to” deposit for older Palaeolithic finds! Unfortunately, by its nature, the shuffled geology often contains worked flint and debitage from many lithic industries together with, eoliths as already mentioned, which will obscure genuine Clactonian artefacts if they are there. This is a well-documented problem, especially with surface finds away from stratified locations. To make matters worse, “heavy staining and patination cannot be relied upon as a guide to age; analysis on large numbers of recognisable later prehistoric artefacts in collections such as the Stopes collection, in the National Museum of Wales, much of which was recovered from the Clay-with-flints of north Kent, suggests this is the case” (Francis Wenban-Smith & others, p44).

Owing to this difficulty with identification and probable lack of general awareness among archaeologists, field walkers, etc., it is unsurprising that potentially valuable examples will remain undiscovered. This was the case during the 1890s-1920s (Harrison, Prestwich, de Barri Crawshay et al.) of collecting “worked” flint from the north downs in huge quantities only for them to be dismissed later as natural unworked eoliths. At least the Victorian and later collectors found it easier to distinguish handaxes and flake tools, which were collected, but this, in turn, will have resulted in biased Lower/Middle Palaeolithic finds records of the North Kent clay- with-flints formations. To date, we only have confirmed Clactonian in Kent recorded within the relatively small area of Swanscombe/ Ebbsfleet post-Anglian Ice Age (about 480-425,000 years ago [N.Ashton, p108]) but hunter- gatherers would have walked the river valleys and the chalk uplands across the region (Blundell, L. 2019), so there may be lithics out there to support this. There are three other sites in Kent with possible Clactonian, i.e. in nearby Bowman’s Lodge Pit in Dartford (P. Tester, 1950), Twydall Chalk Pit (near Gillingham, Beresford, F.R., 2018) and Reculver (near Herne Bay, Herne Bay Museum) but owing to an absence of clear context these cannot be confirmed as such. Can we join up these sites?

Targeted search strategy for the Clactonian

From my personal experience, standard group field walking exercises across, for example, 10m squares, are not conducive to spotting archaic lithics because:

All field walkers do not routinely recognise archaic artefacts since they do not resemble the more common, easily recognisable lithics with Upper Palaeolithic/ Mesolithic/Neolithic typologies. Therefore, genuine Clactonian lithics will be missed or rejected.

The exercise is jeopardised by the time available and the expectation of the area to be covered. For obvious reasons, this adds pressure to search reasonably quickly and not spend valuable time carefully examining a piece of flint on hands and knees. Inevitably, potential artefacts will be semi-buried and cemented in place with the diagnostic features hidden.

The logistics of collecting potentially heavy loads is not catered for.

Notwithstanding the above, whilst the traditional search method will locate older artefacts, if there is an aim to seek Clactonian lithics, then additionally, I suggest we need ‘Field Scrutiny’ for example:

Ideally, field walkers must have seen and handled genuine Clactonian lithics (flakes and cores) beforehand. Understanding the morphological characteristics of such lithics will aid detection in the field, as unsurprisingly, with surface finds of this age, it is inevitable that potential artefacts will not be complete and will be severely damaged. Expectations must reflect this.

The time available and a reduced search area needs to be factored in.

Perhaps individual search squares of 1-2m might be more effective in dense clay-with-flint locations.

Kneeling mats would be essential, setting the tone that this is an exercise of thorough examination rather than a race against the clock!

Trowels/tools would be required to extract potential semi-buried artefacts for further inspection.

Collection arrangements would need to be robust and appropriate for many kilos of flint, e.g. boxes/baskets.

To ensure only valid worked artefacts are removed from the site, a processing station would need to be set up (e.g., a table with knowledgeable individuals (s)). This can be done whilst the search is being carried out.

–Finally, the removal method would need to be considered, e.g. trolleys/ vehicle transport.

To test this proposed Clactonian search strategy, SWAG will endeavour to conduct a targeted trial ‘Field Scrutiny’ search to see if this is realistic and worthwhile. Any tips and advice would be gratefully received, and any volunteers wishing to participate in such an exercise would be welcome.

Conclusion

The absence of Lower Palaeolithic Clactonian sites in Kent - other than the Swanscombe/Ebbsfleet area - reflects the nature of the land surface, which has often been buried, moved and mixed with other deposits, the antiquarian collectors’ preference for handaxes and flake tools and the difficulty in identifying basic chopper/ core lithics. Hopefully, with more Clactonian lithics being identified in time, greater opportunities will arise to counter the current lack of hands-on knowledge of professional and amateur collectors and allow further studies of Kent’s Lower Palaeolithic activity.

As you would expect, this new collection requires verification and validation. Therefore, a more intensive analysis is being carried out. Suppose this Tester collection from Eynsford is confirmed with a high probability as genuine Clactonian. In that case, it will add to the overall picture of archaic population density and highlight the spread of the early occupation of Kent. To that end, any Clactonian specialists are welcome to drop in, have a look and contribute to the discussion and analysis; please get in touch.

The results of the further lithic analysis will be reported in a future article.

Acknowledgements

The relatives of Peter Tester and Peter Draper, thank you for assisting in the safekeeping of these valuable finds.

Frank Beresford for advice on Palaeolithic lithics, related sites and historical activity in Kent and comments and suggestions to an earlier draft of this paper.

Andrew Mayfield, thank you for your trust and encouragement in handling these valuable artefacts and comments to an earlier draft of this paper.

Ruiha Smalley (former KAS Library archivist at Maidstone Museum) for access to Peter Tester’s records.

Keith Parfitt and attendees at the KAS Fieldwork Forum (March 2023) for testing the examination and handling of genuine Clactonian artefacts.

The SWAG team for making a conducive workspace available to store and analyse the new collection. And for a team of willing volunteers to target a clay-with- flints field on their hands and knees!

References

Ashton, N., 2017. Early Humans, p108.

Beresford F.R, 2018. Palaeolithic Material from Lower Twydall Chalk Pit in Kent: The Cook and Killick Collection. Lithics: The Journal of the Lithics Society No. 39.

Blundell, L., 2016. Hominin activity on the chalk uplands of southeast Britain: A geomorphological perspective on the archaeological record. Lithics: The Journal of the Lithics Society No. 37.

Blundell, L., September 2019. A Critical Evaluation of the Lower- Middle Palaeolithic Archaeological Record of the Chalk Uplands of Northwest Europe

British Geographical Survey. Dartford, England and Wales Sheet 271. Solid and Drift Edition.

Butler, C., 2005. Prehistoric Flintwork, p60-66.

Tester, P. J., 1984. Clactonian flints from Rickson’s Pit, Swanscombe. Arch’ Cant’. No.100.

Tester, P. J., 1950. Palaeolithic Flint Implements from The Bowman’s

Lodge Pit. Arch’ Cant’. No.63.

Wenban-Smith, F., Bates, M., Bridgland, D., Harp, P., Pope, M., and Roberts, M., 2010 &2017. The

Early Palaeolithic Period. South East Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda for the Early Palaeolithic period Consultation draft (September 2010 with additions in 2017) p41 & 44.

Wymer, J., 1999. The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Britain. Vol. 1 & 2.