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Summary

Pleistocene deposits, exposed during quarry workings to the north-east of Welton le Wold. Palaeolithic handaxes and animal remains have been identified within the deposits.

Full description

Pleistocene deposits have been exposed during quarry workings to the north-east of Welton le Wold. Finds of three palaeolithic handaxes and one retouched flake of Acheulean date were found in the deposits, during visits to the site between 1969 and 1973. The artefacts were recovered from a blackish band of gravels, along with a variety of animal bones, tusk and teeth fragments. All the handaxes were made of chert, and, though small and crudely fashioned, were of Acheulean type. The handaxes were slightly rolled, thus suggesting they were not in situ, and therefore not archaeologically related to the animal bone. The animal species represented include palaeoloxodon antiquus (straight-tusked elephant), cervus (red deer), megaloceros sp (large deer), equus sp (horse) and woolly rhinoceros. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5}

The site contains an extensive sequence of glacial tills overlying thick deposits of silts, sands and gravels, from which the Palaeolithic artefacts and animal remains were recovered. A series of 10 samples were collected from the site in August and September 2003, for optically stimulated luminescence dating of the various deposits. Despite some problems with the samples in the laboratory, meaningful age estimates were obtained for the majority of samples, enabling the characterisation of the stratigraphic sequence. The samples indicated a date of deposition for the stratigraphy that ranged from 96000 BP for the exposed till at the top of the sequence, to 365000 BP for the deposits near the bottom. {6}

The gravels at the site from which the artefacts were recovered were thought to date to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6, a cold stage with arctic conditions but no ice. This was a time when loess was deposited by the arctic winds, dating to about 130000 years to 180000 years before the present. {7}

<1> Lincolnshire County Council, Sites and Monuments Record Card Index, TF 28 NE: H (Index). SLI2881.

<2> City and County Museum Collection, LCNCC 1970.56, LCNCC 1976.39-41 (Artefact). SLI8.

<3> C. Alabaster and A. Straw, 1976, 'The Pleistocene Context of Faunal Remains and Artefacts Discovered at Welton le Wold, Lincolnshire' in Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, vol.41, part.1, no.8, pp.75-94 (Article in Serial). SLI601.

<4> J.J. Wymer and A. Straw, 1977, 'Hand-Axes From Beneath Glacial Till at Welton-le-Wold, Lincolnshire, and the Distribution of Palaeoliths in Britain' in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, vol.43, pp.355-60 (Article in Serial). SLI17692.

<5> Wessex Archaeology, 1996, The English Rivers Palaeolithic Project: Regions 9 (Great Ouse Drainage) and 12 (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wolds, p.142 (Unpublished Document). SLI4828.

<6> English Heritage, 2007, Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating of Pleistocene Deposits, Welton le Wold, - (Report). SLI16083.

<7> Peter Chowne, 2013, Information from Peter Chowne, 01/07/2013 (Electronic Communication). SLI14207.

Monument Types

• FINDSPOT (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 365000 BC to 96000 BC)

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 40001 BC)
• HANDAXE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 40001 BC)
• RETOUCHED FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 40001 BC)

Associated Events

• Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating of Pleistocene Deposits, Welton le Wold

Protected Status

• SHINE

Sources and further reading

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