Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

16 ovate Palaeolithic handaxes from New Craylands Lane Pit (East Side), found in 1911-1913. The finds are evidence of a prolific Clactonian Flint industry of the Lower Palaeolithic date. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available information)

Monument Types

• OCCUPATION SITE (Lower Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 150001 BC (at some time))

Associated Finds

• HANDAXE (Lower Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 150001 BC)

Full description

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Reginald Smith of the British Museum and Henry Dewey of the Geological Survey carried out the first methodical excavations of Craylands Pit in 1913 and 1914. The main outcome of these excavations was the production of the first sequence of deposits from the Lower to the Upper Gravels. Eventually they concentrated their excavations on the Lower Gravels, where they found evidence of a prolific Clactonian Flint industry of the Lower Palaeolithic date. (1)

16 ovate handaxes were found in the New Craylands Lane Pit (East Side), in 1911-1913, many of them twisted. Site was investigated by Smith and Dewey in 1913 (2). The handaxes came from the top of the lowest layer of "current-bedded gravel" overlying the Chalk at c. 28.5m OD. It is uncertain how this horizon relates to the classic sequence at Barnfield Pit on the west side of Craylands Lane. Roe (2) listed 7 handaxes from the site as present in collections at the British Museum, Maidstone Museum and Rochester Museum. The site is discussed by Wymer (4) and listed in the SRPP (5). The pit is partly filled in and has been developed for housing. It was also visited for the ME survey (6), see KT 568 & 795, either in November or December 2003. Pleistocene sediments filling a small channel are present at the western end (SE-facing) of the N section, behind the garage forecourt at the back of Craylands Square; the remainder of the N section is predominantly colluvial/solifluction deposits, with gravel/sand pockets and Chalk involutions

. Chalk bedrock overlain by shallow colluvial/solifluction sediments is present at the SW corner of the ME site.

Pleistocene deposits with the original sequence may be preserved under the footpath at the E end of the ME site, which divides it from the recreation ground (6)

. Also see HER TQ 67 SW 91.

<1> Wessex Archaeology, March 2004, Swanscombe Heritage Park and Craylands Gorge, Swanscombe, Kent. Archaeological and Geological Desk Based Assessment (Unpublished document). SWX12883.

<2> Smith R.A and Dewey H, 1914, The High Terrace of the Thames: report on excavations made on behalf of the British Museum and H.M. Geological Survey., p 189-190 (Article in serial). SKE32181.

<3> Roe, D.A., 1968, Gazetteer of British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Sites, p 182 (Monograph). SWX6570.

<4> Wymer, JJ, 1968, Lower Palaeolithic Archaeology in Britain as represented by the Thames Valley., p 346, 351 (Monograph). SKE29697.

<5> Essex County Council & Kent County Council, 2003, Archaeological Survey of Mineral Extraction Sites around the Thames Estuary, KT 568 & 795 (Unpublished document). SKE12012.

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 1993, The Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project, Report No.2: The South West and South of the Thames [Vol. I - text], NWK 5.1 (A) (Monograph). SWX6569.

Sources and further reading