This research project is funded by English Heritage, through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), announced in April 2002. Further details of the Fund and of other projects can be found at the English Heritage web-site.

This project will assess the interpretive potential of the secondary context archaeological resource, which yields the majority of extant data for the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. For the purposes of this project, secondary contexts are defined as fluvial aggregate deposits situated on river terrace and river floodplain landforms. These deposits incorporate gravels, sands, silts and clays. These fluvial aggregate deposits in secondary contexts are hereafter referred to as secondary contexts. An assessment of the archaeological potential of secondary contexts is especially timely in light of the current academic focus on models of colonisation, occupation and landscapes in the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. Such models require testing against regional data sets that incorporate macro-scales in time and space. The secondary context archaeological resource is the only data set that meets these criteria. However, the specific structure of the secondary context archaeological resource in time and space is currently unknown and must therefore be explicitly assessed.

The primary goal of the project is the production of an interpretive framework for secondary context archaeology. The framework will have major benefits in the fields of academic research and the management of Britain's terrestrial aggregate resource with respect to both commercial and heritage interests. The archaeological periods covered by the project will be restricted to the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic (c. 500,000-40,000 BP). This focus reflects the expertise and interests of the project staff and the weight of secondary context archaeology associated with these periods. It is recognised that archaeological materials from later periods occur in secondary contexts, and it is anticipated that the interpretive frameworks developed in this project can be applied to other archaeological periods in future. The regional scope of the project is southern England, with a generic framework built upon selective relevant data and examples from all the rivers systems within this region, as appropriate. The specific examples focus upon three sub-regional case studies: the River Axe at Broom; the River Test (an extant tributary of the now extinct Solent River) at Dunbridge, and the River Thames at Swanscombe. The project combines a programme of desktop research with a limited fieldwork component.

Project aims
Project objectives
Project methods
Project design references
Project conclusions
Project outputs

Timetable
The project aims and objectives are structured into three phases, summarised below with their delivery dates.

Phase 1. Assessment of the temporal structure of secondary context, fluvial aggregate sequences. Case study of the Broom Lower Palaeolithic locality. Dissemination through workshops, conferences, web-site resources, and museum display. Completion date: 25/03/03.

Phase 2. Assessment of the heterogeneity and/or homogeneity of stone tool assemblages occurring within secondary context, fluvial aggregate deposits. Case study of the Broom and Dunbridge Lower Palaeolithic assemblages. Dissemination through workshops, conferences, web-site resources, and museum display. Completion date: 13/08/03.

Phase 3. Characterisation of the archaeological potential of the secondary context resource. Generic recommendation for the management of the resource. Presentation of interpretive frameworks for the archaeological resource. Dissemination through workshops, web-site resources, the final project report, and academic journal papers. Completion date: 05/03/04.

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