Friday, January 23, 2009

Human Habitation in England Pushed Back to 600k

An article in the Somerset News is reporting on research done at the caves at Mendip Hill that has pushed back human habitation of the region to c. 600 000 years ago. That story notes:

The re-examination of animal bones and artefacts unearthed in the 1980s has shown evidence of a human settlement much earlier than previously thought.

The revised date is being hailed as one of the most exciting developments in British archaeology and paleontology since prehistoric human remains were unearthed at Boxgrove, West Sussex, in 1993.

The bones found at Westbury-sub-Mendip came from rhinoceroses, hyenas, wolves, bison and cave bears, and showed straight cut marks that could have been made only by butchery with a sharp cutting implement, along with shaped flints that have now been identified as hand axes.


Neat.

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