Approach to the B site (Boxgrove, UK) formation processes from palaeotopographic reconstruction and spatial analysis of the Level 4u

Abstract

The open-air site of Boxgrove (ca. 500 ka) is one of the most important sites for understanding the European Acheulean technology, due to the extraordinary preservation of the lithic assemblage that allows analyzing shaping strategies and handaxes morphological variability (Pope, 2002; Emery, 2006; García-Medrano et al., 2018). The sequence of Boxgrove is composed by a sequence of Middle Pleistocene marine, freshwater and terrestrial sediments exposed in the former Eartham Quarry, West Sussex, UK (Barnes, 1980; Roberts and Pope, 2009, 2018). Currently, the formation processes of the Q1B site is being reanalysed, applying new techniques and analysis tools based on GIS. A previous analysis carried out in the late 1990’s suggested that despite fluvial processes there might be areas of high-resolution preservation of human activity within sediment body Level 4u (Pope, 2002), this can now be tested through new analysis. With this work, we present the palaeotopographic reconstruction of the Level 4u, where it is possible to observe the variations in the palaeorelief of the level and the zones of greatest accumulation of remains, which coincide with the depressions of the reconstructed surface. The conditions of preservation in the Q1B assemblage are exceptional, so the study of this site could become a step forward in the identification of the processes that could have acted in the formation of Boxgrove through spatial analysis.