The human occupation of Britain during the Hoxnian Interglacial

This paper provides an overview of the MIS 11 record for Britain. The glacial history of Britain, in particular the Anglian glaciation of MIS 12, enables the identification of a number of sites that can be attributed to MIS 11. The good biological preservation at several of the sites allows correlation between them and therefore a better understanding of the chronology of the associated lithic industries. These assemblages can also in some cases be linked to the changing geographic position of Britain as sometimes a peninsula and other times an island of mainland Europe. It means that populations were colonising, retreating, or becoming locally extinct, then recolonizing as the geographic status changed. The initial colonisers seem to have lacked handaxe technology. Although this has been traditionally framed within a parochial ‘Clactonian’ debate, this paper suggests that it is better viewed within a European context to understand better the dynamics of population movement and the possible source areas for those populations. Equally differences in other lithic technologies, such as handaxes, can be viewed in this light. Finally, the paper suggests that within a European context, non-handaxes assemblages should be viewed as part of the technocomplex of the Acheulian and that there are many other technological and behavioural features that unite the various sites of MIS 11 Europe.