Swanscombe Heritage Park
Encyclopedia
Swanscombe Heritage Park is a National Nature Reserve
and a Site of Special Scientific Interest
near the village of Swanscombe
in north-west Kent
, England
, at the Thames east of London
. The park lies in a former gravel quarry, Barnfield Pit, and is very close to the Baker's Hole
site to Swanscombe's east.
The area was already famous for the finds of numerous Palaeolithic-era handaxes—mostly Acheulean
and Clactonian
artifacts, some 400,000 years old—when in 1935/1936 work at Barnfield Pit uncovered two fossilised skull fragments. These fragments came to be known as the remains of Swanscombe Man, a name they retained despite a re-identification that established that they had belonged to a young woman.
The skull fragments were found in the lower middle terrace gravels at a depth of almost 8 metres beneath the surface. They were found by Alvan T. Marston, an amateur archaeologist who visited the pit between quarrying operations to search for flint tools. A third, matching fragment of the same skull was found in 1955. The estimated age of the cranium fragments is 200,000 - 300,000 years ago. The estimated brain size is 1325 cc, the bones are very thick, show both primitive and modern features, and are believed to belong to an archaic form of Homo sapiens, possibly a descendant of Homo heidelbergensis
as found at Boxgrove Quarry
, and a distant relative of the Neanderthal
s.
Further excavations, carried out between 1968-1972 by Dr. John d'Arcy Waechter, uncovered more animal bone and flint tools, and established the extent of a former shoreline that the bones were found on.
Most of the bone finds are now in the Natural History Museum
in London
, with the stone finds at the British Museum
.
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
and a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
near the village of Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
in north-west Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, at the Thames east of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The park lies in a former gravel quarry, Barnfield Pit, and is very close to the Baker's Hole
Baker's Hole
Baker's Hole is an archaeological site in a former quarry at Northfleet, Gravesham, Kent, England, which has been described as "the best known British Early Middle Paleolithic site"...
site to Swanscombe's east.
The area was already famous for the finds of numerous Palaeolithic-era handaxes—mostly Acheulean
Acheulean
Acheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...
and Clactonian
Clactonian
The Clactonian is the name given by archaeologists to an industry of European flint tool manufacture that dates to the early part of the interglacial period known as the Hoxnian, the Mindel-Riss or the Holstein stages . Clactonian tools were made by Homo erectus rather than modern humans...
artifacts, some 400,000 years old—when in 1935/1936 work at Barnfield Pit uncovered two fossilised skull fragments. These fragments came to be known as the remains of Swanscombe Man, a name they retained despite a re-identification that established that they had belonged to a young woman.
The skull fragments were found in the lower middle terrace gravels at a depth of almost 8 metres beneath the surface. They were found by Alvan T. Marston, an amateur archaeologist who visited the pit between quarrying operations to search for flint tools. A third, matching fragment of the same skull was found in 1955. The estimated age of the cranium fragments is 200,000 - 300,000 years ago. The estimated brain size is 1325 cc, the bones are very thick, show both primitive and modern features, and are believed to belong to an archaic form of Homo sapiens, possibly a descendant of Homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominins date between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. H...
as found at Boxgrove Quarry
Boxgrove Quarry
Boxgrove Quarry is a gravel quarry and Lower Palaeolithic archaeological site at Boxgrove in the British-English county of West Sussex. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest...
, and a distant relative of the Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
s.
Further excavations, carried out between 1968-1972 by Dr. John d'Arcy Waechter, uncovered more animal bone and flint tools, and established the extent of a former shoreline that the bones were found on.
Most of the bone finds are now in the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, with the stone finds at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.