Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Ebbsfleet Site A, with abundant mammalian fossils and other palaeo-environmental remains indicative of interglacial conditions in the bottom part of the sequence. Mammalian fossils include woolly rhino, mammoth, lion, brown bear, spotted hyena, horse and red deer. Small vertebrate fossils include fish, amphibians, pigmy shrew, water-shrew, bank vole, mouse and northern vole. Other palaeo-environmental remains comprise molluscs and ostracods. A few lithic artefacts have also been recovered from the site.

Monument Types

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

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)
• HANDAXE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)
• MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 125000 BC)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

The site - now protected as a Scheduled Monument and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest - was discovered by AT Marston in the 1950s (1). Carreck made a large collection of fossil bones from the site (his Channel A) and made an initial record of the stratigraphy, as well as identifying rich molluscan presence in at least one horizon and recovering a few lithic artefacts (1). The site was reinvestigated by the British Museum in 1965-1971 (2), and then by F Wenban-Smith in 1990, 1993 and 1994 (3, 4, 5, 6). This work, which includes OSL dating and amino acid dating, has shown that the sequence relates to the period MIS 8-7, between c. 250,000 and 200,000 BP, and contains at its base [bed 2 of Wenban-Smith's synthesis (3)] evidence of an interglacial episode within MIS 7 that is different from, and earlier than, the interglacial episode represented in the Temperate Bed at Site B [HER: TQ 67 SW 448]. A broken handaxe and a flake were recovered from the interglacial deposits at the base of the sequence by Carreck [his horizons IV and V respectively, equivalent to bed 2 of Wenban-Smith's synthesis (3)], and another flake was recovered by him from the thick body of brickearth that caps the sequence [Carreck's horizon VIII, equivalent to bed 5 of Wenban-Smith's synthesis (3)]. Four flakes were also recorded from bed 2 during the British Museum work, shown on the archival section drawing held by the British Museum at Franks House, although their present whereabouts is unknown.A condition survey of the scheduled monument and the other areas where deposits are known to survive between 2012 and 2015. It is noted that this area heavily overgrown and un-maintained. This has minimal negative impact on the sensitive fossiliferous sediments, as they are deeply buried, probably at least c. 3 m below the ground surface over most of the area. (7-9)

<1> Carreck JN, 1972, Chronology of the Quaternary deposits of south-east England, with special reference to their vertebrate faunas. (Monograph). SKE32238.

<2> Kerney MP & Sieveking G de G, 1977, Northfleet. (Article in monograph). SKE32246.

<3> Wenban-Smith F. F., 1995, The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet (Baker's Hole) (Article in monograph). SKE17727.

<4> Wenban-Smith FF,, 1996, The Palaeolithic Archaeology of Baker's Hole: a Case Study for Focus in Lithic Analysis. (Unpublished document). SKE32294.

<5> Wenban-Smith FF, et al.,, 2012, Prehistoric Ebbsfleet: Excavations and Research in Advance of High Speed 1 and STDR 4., ch 5 (Monograph). SKE32262.

<6> Wenban-Smith FF, et al.,, 2017, MIS 7, the "Ebbsfleet Interglacial": sub-stage structure and recognition in the UK record. (Article in serial). SKE32272.

<7> Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Archaeology, 2015, Baker's Hole SM and SSSI, strategic condition field survey, final report, current condition and future management recommendations, draft for discussion (Unpublished document). SKE53442.

<8> F.F. WENBAN-SMITH, 2014, Baker's Hole field survey, EV14, Fieldwork summary report (Unpublished document). SKE53122.

<9> Francis Wenban-Smith, 2015, Baker's Hole SAM and SSSI, Strategic Condition Field Survey Final Report: Current Condition and Future Management Recommendations (Unpublished document). SKE52310.

Sources and further reading