Boxgrove Palaeolithic site

Eartham Pit, Boxgrove
Site of Special Scientific Interest
LocationWest Sussex
Grid referenceSU 923 086[1]
InterestGeological, Archaeological
Area9.8 hectares (24 acres)[1]
Notification1997[1]
Location mapMagic Map

The Boxgrove Palaeolithic site is an internationally important archaeological site north-east of Boxgrove in West Sussex with findings that date to the Lower Palaeolithic. The oldest human remains in Britain have been discovered on the site, fossils of Homo heidelbergensis dating to 500,000 years ago.[2] Boxgrove is also one of the oldest sites in Europe with direct evidence of hunting and butchering by early humans. Only part of the site is protected through designation, one area being a 9.8-hectare (24-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest,[1][3] as well as a Geological Conservation Review site.[4]

Other key Palaeolithic sites in the UK include Swanscombe, Pontnewydd, Kents Cavern, Paviland, and Gough's Cave.

The site is close to a fossil shoreline that has interglacial mammal fauna in intertidal sediments.[5] The site was discovered by Andrew Woodcock and Roy Shephard-Thorn in 1974. They recorded the geological sequence, in-situ artefacts and fossil mammal remains. Parts of the site complex were later excavated between 1982 and 1996 by a team led by Mark Roberts of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. The site is situated in an area that features a buried chalk cliff that overlooked a flat beach (which contained a waterhole) stretching approximately half a mile (1 km) south to the sea.

  1. ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Eartham Pit, Boxgrove". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference cabox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Map of Eartham Pit, Boxgrove". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Eartham Pit, Boxgrove (Quaternary of South Central England)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Eartham Pit, Boxgrove citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2019.