Photos The Excavation
Beedings is now the hilltop setting of a retirement estate built for London physician John Harley in 1900. It was during the estate's construction that Harley first recorded the 2,300 tools and weapons, which he described as being "as sharp as when the broken fragments fell from the maker's hands." "Clearly Neanderthal hunters were drawn to the hill over a long period of time, presumably for excellent views of the game herds grazing on the plains below the ridge," Pope explained. The artifacts were excavated within a distinctive fissure system that has been identified in other places around southeast England. It's likely, especially given the similarity of the Beedings tools to others from the time period, that similar Neanderthal strongholds once dotted Britain's landscape. Other studies suggest Neanderthals once flourished between Devon, England, in the west to Nietoperzowa Cave, Poland, in the east. The precise reasons for their extinction remain a mystery. "This study offers a rare chance to answer some crucial questions about just how technologically advanced Neanderthals were and how they compare with our own species," said Barney Sloane, head of Historic Environment Commissions at English Heritage. Archaeologist Mike Pitts, the publisher of British Archeology, echoed the sentiment. Pitts told Discovery News that just "a generation ago, people thought the Paleolithic in Britain was little more than a lot of un-stratified flint hand axes and a few rare fossils, and now we are increasingly finding really well preserved in situ material." "It was always there, but no one had the confidence to seek it out," Pitts added. Related Links: |
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