The British Palaeolithic spans the period from the arrival of the first human ancestors (potentially as early as c. 900,000 years ago), to the start of the Mesolithic around 10,000 BC. The period is traditionally split into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, the basis for remains largely archaeological, reflecting several key developments in tool technology. The Upper Palaeolithic is also the period in which fully modern humans first appeared in Britain. Prior to this time Britain had been periodically occupied by several earlier hominin species, all of which are regarded as having been sufficiently closely related to modern humans to be regarded as part of the same genus (Homo).
Figure 1. Lower Palaeolithic flint handaxe from South Acre (NHER 4097).
The Palaeolithic as a whole corresponds with the later stages of the geological epoch known was the Pleistocene, a period of repeated glaciations that is consequently often referred to as the ‘Ice Age’. The actual picture was much more complex, with The Pleistocene was however actually characterised by a sequence of alternating cold (glacial) and warm (interglacial) periods, which were themselves punctuated by shorter warm and colder episodes. The effects of these changes to global climate were pronounced, particularly in Britiain and other parts of northern Europe. The colder phases saw the advance of vast glacial ice sheets which on several occasions covered significant parts of the British Isles. Global cooling also caused falls in sea level that were sufficiently pronounced to leave much of the southern North Sea basin dry land and effectively connecting Britain to the continental landmass. It is becoming increasingly clear that as a result of these environmental fluctuations the Pleistocene occupation of Britain was episodic rather than continuous, with climatic deterioration likely to have resulted in depopulation and abandonment on a number of occasions.