Jack Linthicum
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 Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:33 pm Post subject: Quarry Products Association wins Archaeological Discovery of |
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Possibly 100,000 year old hand axes recovered from sand and gravel
dredged from the North Sea by Hanson Aggregates Marine. Dutch amateur
archaeologist finds them in product delivered to Flushing, The
Netherlands.
QPA: Smashing success for hand axes at archaeology awards
Friday, 14, Nov 2008 12:00
Prehistoric hand axes discovered in sand and gravel dredged from the
North Sea by Hanson Aggregates Marine, have won the Best
Archaeological Discovery Award at the prestigious British Archaeology
Awards – described as the ‘Oscars’ of the archaeological world.
75 flint hand-axes, which may be more than 100,000-years-old, were
discovered in marine sand and gravel delivered by Hanson to a Dutch
wharf at Flushing, south west Netherlands in February this year.
A Dutch amateur archaeologist, Jan Meulmeester, who regularly searches
for mammoth bones and fossils in material on the wharf, stumbled upon
what has been described as one of the most important finds discovered
in English waters.
The axes show that deep in the Ice Age, mammoth hunters roamed across
land that is now submerged beneath the sea. These are the first hand
axes that experts are certain come from offshore in English waters,
although there have been several finds on the beach, for example at
Pakefield in Suffolk.
Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology and Channel 4’s Time Team programme
is an expert on the Ice Age. He said: “These finds are massively
important. In the Ice Age the cold conditions meant that water was
locked up in the ice caps. The sea level was lower then, so in some
places what is now the seabed was dry land. The hand-axes would have
been used by hunters in butchering the carcasses of animals like
mammoths.”
He added: “Although we don’t yet know their precise date, we can say
that these hand-axes are the single most important find of Ice Age
material from below the North Sea.”
While the hand-axes were discovered in Holland, the gravel came from a
licensed marine dredging area in English waters known as Area 240 –
some 13km off Great Yarmouth lying in water depths of about 25m.
The award-winning hand axes and many other important archaeological
finds have been preserved thanks to a reporting protocol set in place
by the British Marine Aggregate Producers’ Association (BMAPA) and
English Heritage. In presenting the Award, Alison Taylor of the
Society of Antiquaries said, “Overall this was, and continues to be,
an excellent project.”
Robert Langman, Hanson Marine’s senior resources manager, added: “The
hand-axes were collected over a three-month period and this remarkable
discovery only came to light when the archaeologist, realising their
importance, informed the wharf owners. We were quickly able to
identify the area where the finds came from. As part of our protocol
with English Heritage, we have now moved dredging to another part of
the seabed.”
Following the award ceremony which was staged at the British Museum,
BMAPA Director, Mark Russell commented, “We are thrilled that one of
our members’ finds has received such a distinguished award. It shows
how important and effective the reporting protocol is in bringing
valuable artefacts to light ranging in date from the Stone Age to
World War 2 aircraft and ensuring their preservation for future
generations.”
For more information please contact David Harding on 01686 640630/
07967 655379; or Mark Russell on 0207 9638000 or e-mail
russell@qpa.org, www.qpa.org
Notes for editors:
Protocol: The reporting protocol for archaeological finds was an
industry led initiative to prevent finds such as these going
unreported. The potential for discovering finds has always been known
to exist within dredging areas. The industry with consultants Wessex
Archaeology and English Heritage established a mechanism through which
any finds could be reported and assessed. The Guidance notes produced
on behalf of English Heritage and BMAPA, can be viewed at the
following website:
http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/marine/bmapa/index.html
Hanson Aggregates Marine: Hanson is one of the world’s largest
suppliers of heavy building materials to the construction industry and
is part of the HeidelbergCement Group, which employs 70,000 people
across five continents. HeidelbergCement is the global leader in
aggregates and has leading positions in cement, concrete and heavy
building products. Hanson’s marine aggregate dredging business is the
largest in Europe, delivering to 20 wharves around the UK and in
Holland, Belgium and France.
BMAPA: The British Marine Aggregate Producers Association is the trade
association for the British marine aggregate industry. It represents
12 member companies who collectively produce around 90% of the 24
million tonnes of marine sand and gravel dredged from licence areas
off the coast of England and Wales each year.
The Awards Citation: The winner of the Archaeological Discovery of the
Year award is Jan Meulmeester and Hanson Aggregates Marine Limited
together with the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association for
their discovery and subsequent investigation of a unique group of
Palaeolithic hand axes from the North Sea off Great Yarmouth. Jan is
an amateur palaeontologist and he had been given permission to look
over the dredged material when it arrived at Vlissingen in the
Netherlands when he noticed the first of 75 stone tools. Jan>s
actions, and those of others who became involved immediately after the
discovery, were exemplary. The panel were particularly impressed with
the role of the English and Dutch national heritage services who,
using the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA)
‘Protocol for Reporting Finds of Archaeological Interest’, co-
ordinated the response to Jan’s unique find and protected the source
of the hand axes from further dredging. Hanson Aggregates Marine
Limited has been a willing participant in the BMAPA protocol and the
company took a leading role in co-ordinating a press release and
setting up detailed web pages describing this important discovery. The
find was reported across the world on TV, radio and in newspapers,
while the thousands of online hits demonstrate that this find really
engaged with the public’s fascination with archaeology. Overall this
was, and continues to be, an excellent archaeological project.
http://www.archaeologynews.org/story.asp?ID=350297&Title=QPA:%20Smashing%20success%20for%20hand%20axes%20at%20archaeology%20awards |
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Jack Linthicum
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 9:17 pm Post subject: Re: Quarry Products Association wins Archaeological Discover |
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On Nov 14, 3:39 pm, Peter Alaca <p.al...@purple.invalid> wrote:
[quote]Jack Linthicum <jacklinthi...@earthlink.net> 14/11/2008 21:33 wrote:
Possibly 100,000 year old hand axes recovered from sand and gravel
dredged from the North Sea by Hanson Aggregates Marine. Dutch amateur
archaeologist finds them in product delivered to Flushing, The
Netherlands.
[...]
Also seehttp://www.apanarcheo.nl/meulmeester/meulmeester.htmlhttp://www.pbase.com/buiter/noordzeeworkshop
[/quote]
Really nice, we now have a third source for accidental archaeology.
Dredges, join pipe lines and building foundations. |
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