Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Abundant Lower/Middle Palaeolithic finds (including 26 handaxes, amongst them some large and very finely-worked specimens) from a test pit at 21 Rochester Road, Cuxton, excavated in front of the house in August 2005 as part of the fieldwork programme for the Medway Valley Palaeolithic Project.

Monument Types

• OCCUPATION SITE (Lower Palaeolithic - 300000 BC to 200000 BC)

Associated Finds

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

Full description

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A small test pit (TP 2) was excavated in front of 21 Rochester Road, Cuxton, on 1st August 2005 as part of the fieldwork programme for the Medway Valley Palaeolithic Project, and in conjunction with ground removal to enlarge the front parking area of the property (1). Very numerous Palaeolithic flint artefacts were recovered from fluvial sand/gravel beds between 16m and 17m OD, attributed to the same Medway terrace deposits as those that were also very rich in finds at Cuxton Rectory 30-40m to the northwest, on the other side of Rochester Road. 100 artefacts were found, comprising 26 handaxes (mostly pointed/sub-cordate, including six ficrons and one cleaver), two cores, nine flake-tools and 65 debitage (mostly fresh or slightly abraded) (2 - Table 10). One of the handaxes is an exceptional specimen of a ficron, the 2nd longest handaxe found in Britain. And another found in the same horizon almost beside this ficron is an equally exceptional cleaver. OSL dating was carried out, and the results (if accepted at face value) suggest a surprisingly young date of c. 215,000 BP for the site (2 - Table 11).

<1> Wenban-Smith FF, Bates MR, Schwenninger J-L,, 2006, Handaxe typology and Lower Palaeolithic cultural development: ficrons, cleavers and two giant handaxes from Cuxton. (Article in serial). SKE51536.

<2> Wenban-Smith F. F., Bates M.R and Marshall G., 2007, Medway Valley Palaeolithic Project Final Report: The Palaeolithic Resource in the Medway Gravels (Kent) (Unpublished document). SKE29351.

Sources and further reading