The archaeology of the marine aggregates protocol
Telling the story of an ancient sunken landscape as revealed through the Marine Aggregate Industry Archaeological Protocol (MAIAP).
Workers at a wharf
The offshore dredging industry provides around 20% of the aggregate needed for construction projects across the UK. Though all dredging areas are assessed for archaeological potential before getting their licence, people working on the ground (or at sea) are still likely to encounter archaeological finds during their day to day work.
One of the dredged finds and its finder
In 2005, British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) and English Heritage (now Historic England) put in place an archaeological Protocol , developed by Wessex Archaeology . This advises staff on how to protect our submerged heritage. The Crown Estate joined the scheme as a funding partner in 2009.
The Protocol recommends that every find of archaeological potential discovered during aggregate dredging or processing is reported through an Implementation Service run by Wessex Archaeology.
A handaxe from the Middle Palaeolithic handaxe
Wessex Archaeology investigates every find that has been reported with the support and advice of a wealth of specialists, both within Wessex Archaeology and across the country. This information is written up in a series of reports – one for the wharf or vessel that made the discovery, one for Historic England, BMAPA, The Crown Estate, Local Historic Environment Records and Sites and Monuments Records, and a third report is generated for the Receiver of Wreck when necessary. Any other agency that may have an interest in dredged remains, for example the Ministry of Defence, will also be informed.
The way finds are reported allows our submerged heritage to be understood and this information, gained thanks to the diligence of the staff of BMAPA member companies, has become an important resource for informing other offshore projects.
Workers at a wharf
A selection of the finds recorded as part of the MAIAP protocol
Protocol Awareness Programme
The Awareness Programme was launched in 2006 to promote the Protocol and help people to recognise marine artefacts. Since it began, the Awareness Programme has visited wharves and vessels, in the UK and on the Continent, hosted regional seminars and produced the popular Dredged Up newsletter.
As part of the Awareness Programme, the Implementation Team at Wessex Archaeology conducts Awareness Visits, offering advice about marine archaeology and the Protocol to wharves and vessels and giving staff a chance to handle artefacts previously dredged from the seafloor and reported through the Protocol. These Awareness Visits are free, informative and fun!
People examining finds during Awareness Visits
Aggregate License Area 240
The finds from Licence Area 240, approx. 6 miles off the coast of East Anglia near Great Yarmouth have been particularly exciting! In 2007, an assemblage of Palaeolithic artefacts, including handaxes and bones of woolly mammoth and rhino, were discovered at a wharf. This led to the development of Operational Sampling visits, as a way to archaeologically assess cargoes of aggregate from locations with high archaeological potential.
Woolly Mammoth teeth.
The amount and variety of finds has given us a unique glimpse into the early prehistory of the area and advanced our knowledge of this submerged landscape.
The finds found their way into river gravels, which were deposited during cold weather periods when the sea level was much lower and this area was dry land. Interestingly, some of the finds could be considered to be in-situ meaning that the site where they were left has not been disturbed. This means that it’s possible to learn about the use of a site over time, with worked flint, evidence of tool production and debitage (the waste flakes from making stone tools), and megafauna remains all present.
Middle Palaeolithic handaxe, North Sea (4)
The archaeology includes finished handaxes, many of which are in fresh condition, along with Levallois cores and products which tend to exhibit greater evidence for reworking. Levallois tools are made using the flake created by striking the core rather than chipping away to use the core itself as the final tool.
Potentially in situ stone tools of late Middle Pleistocene age (337,000-130,000 BP)
The sediment that these finds are from has been studied. At the bottom it is sandy and then gradually becomes more gravelly and coarse. This suggests that the fresh handaxes may have been in the finer sand at the bottom, while the Levallois material likely came from the upper, coarser sands and gravels, andlikely represent more recent human activity.
Middle Palaeolithic handaxe, North Sea (3)
The handaxes from this area often show evidence of multiple phases of reworking and modification, which could indicate they were kept and carried around the landscape. This may suggest that some of the handaxes were not produced in the area, but rather were carried there as finished artefacts, where they were used and eventually discarded. Waste flakes from stone tool production and the partially complete handaxes do, however, point to some degree of manufacture taking place locally. The archaeological evidence suggests this area was once a coastal, estuarine location near the banks of a river surrounded by grassland. It was probably had some trees and cliffs framing the coastline similar to the present-day.
Sea level curve chart
Palaeo-Yare Landscape
Area 240 is one of a number of aggregate license areas that make up this historic landscape. Much of the sediment in the license area is associated with the ancient course of the River Yare. Aside from Area 240, a huge amount has been discovered about the wider submerged palaeolithic landscape which has been named the Palaeo-Yare.
The Palaeo-Yare appears to have been a relatively low river system with seasonal flows. There appear to be ‘hot spots’ of human activity along it and the evidence from Licence Area 240 (one of these hot spots) has the potential to tell us more about life during the Middle Palaeolithic.
By examining the climate, we have a better idea about possible seasonal use of the landscape, with potential occupation when conditions allowed. Winter temperatures may have been harsh with extra pressure for clothing and shelter but the coastal climate may have been less variable than at sites further inland.
We are heavily reliant on flint artefacts to understand what life was like during the Middle Palaeolithic. This is partly due to a lack of research in certain areas and partly due to issues of preservation. Fossil remains of animal bones have not been systematically studied for cut marks to understand how humans acquired them, ie through hunting, scavenging or a combination of both. There is also limited evidence for hunting technology, such as wooden projectiles as these are unlikely to survive in the archaeological record.
Only a limited amount of archaeological evidence from the Lower Palaeolithic has been recovered from the Palaeo-Yare, comprising a few flakes of possible Lower Palaeolithic date and some animal remains.
The Middle Palaeolithic archaeology from Area 240 can be related to that from southern Britain and northern France.
Middle Palaeolithic handaxe, North Sea (2)
Flint artefacts were also discovered in aggregate cargoes dredged from Licence Areas 401/2, 511 and 512.
Only a few of the isolated flint artefacts, likely dated to the Upper Palaeolithic, have been recovered from the Palaeo-Yare catchment, including a from Licence Area 512. A possible Mesolithic flint blade core was recovered from Licence Area 511. Although few in number, these do indicate human use of the area during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods.
Mesolithic flint knapping
Along with the stone tool discoveries, the rich evidence of animal remains suggests an environment rich for human exploitation and begins to provide clues as to how people used the landscape. Aside from the Area 240 finds, evidence of ,, cattle, and more have been discovered in Area 511 and 512.
Aurochs grazing
An early horse
The end of a horse tibia (leg bone) was found close to the area of worked flint (Hanson_0938). The bone was originally thought to have been struck with a stone tool and was thought to possibly exhibit butchery marks, probably as a result from either skinning or filleting. However, the bone was examined by Bello, Crété and Parfitt at the Natural History Museum with the aim of determining whether these features were indeed traces from the butchery of a horse. Their assessment and interpretation of the features was based on visual comparisons with reference material. Photographs taken with a microscope and 3D imaging were used to illustrate the comparisons.
The spiral break across the bone is associated with extensive chipping . Similar ‘spiral’ breaks occur when bones are broken by carnivore teeth or through the impact of a human using a hammerstones to extract marrow. However, there are several related features that support the interpretation that the bone was broken and flaked by a large mammalian carnivore. The damage can be compared with a hyaena-chewed horse tibia from Kent’s Cavern, Devon. The overall size of the marks suggests a spotted hyaena as a possible contender.
Although it is not possible to make a direct association between the horse bone and human activity in this case, it nevertheless provides useful environmental information indicating extensive grasslands (the favoured habitat of Pleistocene horses), as well as the potential for human interactions with large carnivores that were their competitors for food. The likelihood that the bone was chewed by a hyaena is significant as spotted hyaena disappeared around 31,000 years-ago in north-west Europe.
Horse Tibia
3D surface model showing breaks, chipping, rounded break surfaces and carnivore tooth marks
Additionally, a woolly rhinoceros’ scapula (shoulder blade) was discovered which had unusual markings, which were later identified as hyena chew marks by Dr. Silvia Bello and Dr Simon Parfitt at the Natural History Museum. Identifying these species gives us a unique glimpse into the varied animals living in the landscape with our palaeolithic ancestors.
Rhinoceros scapula (dorsal surface above, ventral surface below with detail of hyena chew marks to the right)
Reconstruction of Wooly rhinoceros and a early hyaena
Operational Sampling – Mitigation and Discovery
The final branch of investigation in the Palaeo-Yare project is Operational Sampling which involves archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology visiting wharfs to assess a sample of dredged material for any archaeological artefacts.
Aggregates being processed at a wharf
Operational Sampling assessed thousands of tonnes of aggregate between 2015 and 2019.
The discoveries that have been made through Operational Sampling can be immediately cared for by experts and inform our understanding of the British Palaeolithic.
A collection of flint artefacts including handaxes
Between 2013 and 2022 there have been:
- 55 wharf visits
- 159 flint finds
- 461 bone finds
It seems that the discovery of large amounts of flint material from Licence Area 240, represents a ‘hot spot’ where evidence of Palaeolithic activity is well-preserved.
Licence Areas 361 and 360 have produced many animal bones including mammoth and deer bones and elephant vertebrae. Licence Area 254 has also produced some fine examples of prehistoric animal remains including one well-preserved mammoth tooth. Area 319 has produced an exceptional example of a metatarsus (the extended ankle bone) of a large deer. A large bone from Area 251 was identified as a metatarsal (foot) bone from an aurochs, the ancestor of modern domestic cattle which would have had a shoulder height of 2m.
Operational Sampling has also shed light on other periods - a flint blade core from Licence Area 511 is of possible Mesolithic date (around 10,000-4,000 BC). Such finds are relatively rare from the East Coast licence areas and further discoveries could provide more detail about Mesolithic human activity, rising sea levels and movement of sediments following deglaciation after the last Ice Age.
Aggregates being processed ashore
A large mammoth tooth (Hanson_0935), one of the most complete ever recovered from the Palaeo-Yare, was discovered on board a dredger and reported through the Protocol. Because it was such a special discovery, the cargo was flagged for further archaeological assessment, and an Operational Sampling visit was quickly planned to investigate the rest of the cargo.
Mammoth tooth
Mammoth tooth
A wooly mammoth reconstruction
After being carefully stored in freshwater to help remove the salt, images were sent to the Natural History Museum where they were looked at by Professor Adrian Lister. He said that the roots of the mammoth tooth are so complete that the skull, or parts of it, are likely still on the seabed.
A Wessex Archaeology archaeologist with a mammoth tooth
It is possible that some of the remains could derive from the same mammoth, and, if associated with the tools could suggest a site where butchery was taking place.
Conclusions
The past use of the Palaeo-Yare landscape is coming to life through archaeological finds reported via the Protocol, from discoveries found during operational sampling and assessment of archaeological data and research.
The most exciting recent finds have been flint artefacts in near pristine condition material dating to 300,000 to 130,000 years ago, including the discovery of the rhino scapula (shoulder) with hyena marks providing rare insight into species interacting in the Middle Palaeolithic. And best of all, the discovery of the horse bone with butchery marks that brings it all together - people using flint tools in the past and leaving evidence on animal bones for future generations to discover.
Impressively, the evidence is not just coming from the hots pot in Area 240, but there is evidence of people and animals using the landscape across numerous East Coast licence areas. And there is potential for other hot spots to be discovered.
The Palaeo-Yare is a fantastic region that keeps on providing fascinating insights into how people were using the landscape during the Middle Palaeolithic, and we’re looking forward to see what will be discovered next!
'Hanson Thames' dredging vessel
