The Early and early Middle Pleistocene archaeological record in Britain from c. 900 to 500 ka marks a critical shift in human occupation of northwest Europe, from occasional pioneer populations with simple core and flake technology to more widespread occupation associated with the appearance of Acheulean technology. Key to understanding this record are the fluvial deposits of the extinct Bytham River in central East Anglia, where a series of Lower Palaeolithic sites lie on a 15 km stretch of the former river. In this paper we present the results of new fieldwork and a reanalysis of historical artefact collections of handaxes and scrapers to: 1) establish the chronostratigraphic context of the Bytham archaeological record; 2) examine variability in lithic artefact typology and technology through time; and 3) explore the implications for understanding variation in lithic technology in the European record. Six phases of occupation of Britain are identified from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 to MIS 13, with the last three phases characterised by distinctive lithic technology. We argue that this relates to the discontinuous occupation of Britain, where each phase represents the arrival of new groups derived from different European populations with distinctive material culture.

中文翻译：

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拜腾河的旧石器时代考古学：中更新世初期的英国对人类的占领及其欧洲背景

英国的早中古更新世考古记录。900到500 ka标志着西北欧洲人类的一个重要转变，从偶然的具有简单核心和片状技术的先驱人群转变为与Acheulean技术的出现相关的更广泛的占领。理解这一记录的关键是东安格利亚中部已灭绝的Bytham河的河流冲积物，在该河的前15公里处有一系列的旧石器时代遗址。在本文中，我们介绍了新的田野调查的结果，并重新分析了手斧和刮刀的历史文物，以：1）建立拜占姆考古记录的年代地层背景；2）检验随时间变化的石器物类型和技术的可变性；3）探索对理解欧洲记录中的石器技术变化的启示。从至少海洋同位素阶段（MIS）21到MIS 13，确定了英国占领的六个阶段，最后三个阶段的特征是独特的石器技术。我们认为这与英国的不连续占领有关，在每个阶段，英国代表着来自具有独特物质文化的不同欧洲人口的新群体的到来。