Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Various historic finds of unprovenanced Palaeolithic artefacts and mammalian fossils from "Bevan's Pit" , the original late 19th C quarry also known as Baker's Hole. Finds mostly made in the late 19th C and early 20th C, when this was the main pit in the area, quarried for Chalk.

Location approximate based on available information

Monument Types

• FINDSPOT (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)

Associated Finds

• CORE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)
• DEBITAGE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)
• HANDAXE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)
• LEVALLOIS FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 40001 BC)

Full description

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Various historic finds of unprovenanced Palaeolithic artefacts and mammalian fossils from "Bevan's Pit" , the original late 19th C quarry also known as Baker's Hole. Finds mostly made in the late 19th C and early 20th C, when this was the main pit in the area, quarried for Chalk. The name "Baker's Hole" was then erroneously transposed to the nearby Southfleet Pit when it was opened in the early 20th C, and the became inextricably linked with the prolific Levalloisian material recovered there (1) [cf. TQ 67 SW 48]. Roe lists 3 handaxes, 1 Levallois core and 3 Levallois flakes in the Stopes collection at NMW Cardiff (2). Subsequent closer analysis of the Stopes collection by Wenban-Smith (3) identified more than 250 handaxes, 11 cores, 11 flake-tools and more than 350 flakes, including several Levalloisian flakes. Stopes' collection also includes bones of mammoth/elephant, horse and possibly also rhino (3). Site visited for ME survey (4).

Location approximate based on available information

<1> Wenban-Smith F. F., 1995, The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet (Baker's Hole) (Article in monograph). SKE17727.

<2> Roe, D.A., 1968, Gazetteer of British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Sites, p 169 (Monograph). SWX6570.

<3> Wenban-Smith F. F., March 2004, The Stopes Palaeolithic Project: Final Report, # 26 (Unpublished document). SWX12877.

<4> Essex County Council & Kent County Council, 2003, Archaeological Survey of Mineral Extraction Sites around the Thames Estuary, KT 585 (Unpublished document). SKE12012.

Sources and further reading