Britain: One million years of the Human Story

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Britain: One million years of the

Human Story

A unique temporary exhibition located during 2014 in the Natural History

Museum, London. It shows 200 specimens, objects,

replicas and life-size models, to describe what life was like in ancient Britain.

Roberto Sáez v. 22/06/2014 nutcrackerman.com

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The oldest known flints in Britain, close to 1 MYA, found in Happisburgh in Norfolk. They could have been used for slicing meat, scraping skin and shaping wood

The oldest human footprints in Europe,

found in May 2013 at Happisburgh in

Norfolk

1 MYA Happisburgh in Norfolk

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Rear of butchered rhinoceros skull

Butchered rhinoceros pelvis bone

The Boxgrove tibia (Homo heidelbergensis)

500 KYA Boxgrove

4 500 KYA Boxgrove

Handaxes

Waste flakes

Oldest known antler hammer

The author, H. heidelbergensis

(replica of Broken Hill, Zambia)

5 400-200 KYA Neandertal Levallois technique: stones were pre-shaped into a core that became the basis of many tools

Handaxes (Swanscombe, Kent) 400 KYA

Core and point (Crayford, Kent) 200 KYA

Various tools (Pontnewydd Cave, Wales) 230 KYA

Flakes and point (Chiswick in London, Crayford in Kent, Baker’s Hole in Kent) 200-300 KYA

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The largest handaxe in Europe (Furze Platt, Berkshire) 300 KYA, c. 40 cm

Too large for practical use, it might have been symbolic, perhaps to demonstrate the skills of its maker

400-200 KYA Neandertal

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Neandertal woman skull (Swanscombe, Kent) 400 KYA

Neandertal 8 year old child teeth (Pontnewydd Cave, Wales) 230 KYA

400-200 KYA Neandertal

Fused roots and enlarged pulp cavities

Occipital bun

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One of the oldest wooden spears in the world, from Clacton in Essex, 400 KYA

[recreation]

400-200 KYA Neandertal

Reassembled tool waste flakes from Crayford,

Kent, 200 KYA

9 40 KYA Homo sapiens

Oldest known burial in Britain (Paviland Cave, Wales) 33 KYA

First Homo sapiens in Britain: fragment of upper jaw (Kent’s

Cavern, Devon) 41 KYA

Skull cup with cut marks Chewed human scapula with bite marks

Upper jaw of a teenager with cut marks where flesh

was removed

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Handaxes (Kent’s Cavern) 60 KYA

Handaxes (La Cotte de St Brelade) 65-60 KYA

Bladepoints (Kent’s Cavern, Devon and Creswell Crags, Derbyshire) 43 KYA

The changing face of technology

Neandertals

11 The changing face of technology

Neandertals

Model based on 40 KYA Neandertal remains found at Spy, Belgium.

Neandertals colonised Britain many times between 400 K and 50 KYA but were extinct 30 KYA.

Shorter and more robust than H. sapiens. Wide hips and shoulders, powerful bodies.

Large brain-case but lower and longer than H. sapiens. Prominent brow ridge, large nose below.

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Pointed blade 14 KYA

Pointed blade 14 KYA

Blade 14 KYA

Pointed blade 14 KYA

Blade 14 KYA

Blades 14 KYA

Notched piece 36 KYA

Bladelet core 36 KYA

Blade 36 KYA

Bladelet core 36 KYA

Blade 36 KYA

Tanget point 33 KYA

The changing face of technology

H. sapiens

13 The changing face of technology

H. sapiens

Model based on 30 KYA burial remains found in Paviland, Wales.

H. sapiens colonised Britain 40 KYA.

Taller and more linear than Neandertals, probably built for endurance running rather than short powerful bursts.

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Roberto Sáez nutcrackerman.com