The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe

Simon A. Parfitt; René W. Barendregt; Marzia Breda; Ian Candy; Matthew J. Collins; G. Russell Coope; Paul Durbidge; Mike H. Field; Jonathan R. Lee; Adrian M. Lister; Robert Mutch; Kirsty E.H. Penkman; Richard C. Preece; James Rose; Christopher B. Stringer; Robert Symmons; John E. Whittaker; John J. Wymer; Anthony J. Stuart

doi:10.1038/nature04227

The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe

Simon A. Parfitt, René W. Barendregt, Marzia Breda, Ian Candy, Matthew J. Collins, G. Russell Coope, Paul Durbidge, Mike H. Field, Jonathan R. Lee, Adrian M. Lister, Robert Mutch, Kirsty E.H. Penkman, Richard C. Preece, James Rose, Christopher B. Stringer, Robert Symmons, John E. Whittaker, John J. Wymer, Anthony J. Stuart^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

307 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The colonization of Eurasia by early humans is a key event after their spread out of Africa, but the nature, timing and ecological context of the earliest human occupation of northwest Europe is uncertain and has been the subject of intense debate¹. The southern Caucasus was occupied about 1.8 million years (Myr) ago², whereas human remains from Atapuerca-TD6, Spain (more than 780 kyr ago)³ and Ceprano, Italy (about 800 kyr ago)⁴ show that early Homo had dispersed to the Mediterranean hinterland before the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic polarity reversal (780 kyr ago). Until now, the earliest uncontested artefacts from northern Europe were much younger, suggesting that humans were unable to colonize northern latitudes until about 500 kyr ago^5,6. Here we report flint artefacts from the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Pakefield (52° N), Suffolk, UK, from an interglacial sequence yielding a diverse range of plant and animal fossils. Event and lithostratigraphy, palaeomagnetism, amino acid geochronology and biostratigraphy indicate that the artefacts date to the early part of the Brunhes Chron (about 700 kyr ago) and thus represent the earliest unequivocal evidence for human presence north of the Alps.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature
Volume	438
Issue number	7070
Pages (from-to)	1008-1012
Number of pages	5
ISSN	0028-0836
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04227
Publication status	Published - 15 Dec 2005

Access to Document

10.1038/nature04227

Cite this

Parfitt, S. A., Barendregt, R. W., Breda, M., Candy, I., Collins, M. J., Coope, G. R., Durbidge, P., Field, M. H., Lee, J. R., Lister, A. M., Mutch, R., Penkman, K. E. H., Preece, R. C., Rose, J., Stringer, C. B., Symmons, R., Whittaker, J. E., Wymer, J. J., & Stuart, A. J. (2005). The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe. Nature, 438(7070), 1008-1012. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04227

Parfitt, SA, Barendregt, RW, Breda, M, Candy, I, Collins, MJ, Coope, GR, Durbidge, P, Field, MH, Lee, JR, Lister, AM, Mutch, R, Penkman, KEH, Preece, RC, Rose, J, Stringer, CB, Symmons, R, Whittaker, JE, Wymer, JJ & Stuart, AJ 2005, 'The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe', Nature, vol. 438, no. 7070, pp. 1008-1012. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04227

@article{bc660b268cea486da7d0dbb790ed36e7,

title = "The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe",

abstract = "The colonization of Eurasia by early humans is a key event after their spread out of Africa, but the nature, timing and ecological context of the earliest human occupation of northwest Europe is uncertain and has been the subject of intense debate1. The southern Caucasus was occupied about 1.8 million years (Myr) ago2, whereas human remains from Atapuerca-TD6, Spain (more than 780 kyr ago)3 and Ceprano, Italy (about 800 kyr ago)4 show that early Homo had dispersed to the Mediterranean hinterland before the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic polarity reversal (780 kyr ago). Until now, the earliest uncontested artefacts from northern Europe were much younger, suggesting that humans were unable to colonize northern latitudes until about 500 kyr ago5,6. Here we report flint artefacts from the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Pakefield (52° N), Suffolk, UK, from an interglacial sequence yielding a diverse range of plant and animal fossils. Event and lithostratigraphy, palaeomagnetism, amino acid geochronology and biostratigraphy indicate that the artefacts date to the early part of the Brunhes Chron (about 700 kyr ago) and thus represent the earliest unequivocal evidence for human presence north of the Alps.",

author = "Parfitt, {Simon A.} and Barendregt, {Ren{\'e} W.} and Marzia Breda and Ian Candy and Collins, {Matthew J.} and Coope, {G. Russell} and Paul Durbidge and Field, {Mike H.} and Lee, {Jonathan R.} and Lister, {Adrian M.} and Robert Mutch and Penkman, {Kirsty E.H.} and Preece, {Richard C.} and James Rose and Stringer, {Christopher B.} and Robert Symmons and Whittaker, {John E.} and Wymer, {John J.} and Stuart, {Anthony J.}",

year = "2005",

month = dec,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1038/nature04227",

language = "English",

volume = "438",

pages = "1008--1012",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "nature publishing group",

number = "7070",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe

AU - Parfitt, Simon A.

AU - Barendregt, René W.

AU - Breda, Marzia

AU - Candy, Ian

AU - Collins, Matthew J.

AU - Coope, G. Russell

AU - Durbidge, Paul

AU - Field, Mike H.

AU - Lee, Jonathan R.

AU - Lister, Adrian M.

AU - Mutch, Robert

AU - Penkman, Kirsty E.H.

AU - Preece, Richard C.

AU - Rose, James

AU - Stringer, Christopher B.

AU - Symmons, Robert

AU - Whittaker, John E.

AU - Wymer, John J.

AU - Stuart, Anthony J.

PY - 2005/12/15

Y1 - 2005/12/15

N2 - The colonization of Eurasia by early humans is a key event after their spread out of Africa, but the nature, timing and ecological context of the earliest human occupation of northwest Europe is uncertain and has been the subject of intense debate1. The southern Caucasus was occupied about 1.8 million years (Myr) ago2, whereas human remains from Atapuerca-TD6, Spain (more than 780 kyr ago)3 and Ceprano, Italy (about 800 kyr ago)4 show that early Homo had dispersed to the Mediterranean hinterland before the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic polarity reversal (780 kyr ago). Until now, the earliest uncontested artefacts from northern Europe were much younger, suggesting that humans were unable to colonize northern latitudes until about 500 kyr ago5,6. Here we report flint artefacts from the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Pakefield (52° N), Suffolk, UK, from an interglacial sequence yielding a diverse range of plant and animal fossils. Event and lithostratigraphy, palaeomagnetism, amino acid geochronology and biostratigraphy indicate that the artefacts date to the early part of the Brunhes Chron (about 700 kyr ago) and thus represent the earliest unequivocal evidence for human presence north of the Alps.

AB - The colonization of Eurasia by early humans is a key event after their spread out of Africa, but the nature, timing and ecological context of the earliest human occupation of northwest Europe is uncertain and has been the subject of intense debate1. The southern Caucasus was occupied about 1.8 million years (Myr) ago2, whereas human remains from Atapuerca-TD6, Spain (more than 780 kyr ago)3 and Ceprano, Italy (about 800 kyr ago)4 show that early Homo had dispersed to the Mediterranean hinterland before the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic polarity reversal (780 kyr ago). Until now, the earliest uncontested artefacts from northern Europe were much younger, suggesting that humans were unable to colonize northern latitudes until about 500 kyr ago5,6. Here we report flint artefacts from the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Pakefield (52° N), Suffolk, UK, from an interglacial sequence yielding a diverse range of plant and animal fossils. Event and lithostratigraphy, palaeomagnetism, amino acid geochronology and biostratigraphy indicate that the artefacts date to the early part of the Brunhes Chron (about 700 kyr ago) and thus represent the earliest unequivocal evidence for human presence north of the Alps.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=29344454441&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nature04227

DO - 10.1038/nature04227

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 16355223

AN - SCOPUS:29344454441

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 438

SP - 1008

EP - 1012

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7070

ER -

The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this