SDO19058 - Palaeoliths and Terraces near Bournemouth. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 15, 21-37

Upwards of three thousand palaeolithic implements are known to have been obtained from gravels within 8 miles of Bournemouth. The largest proportion, probably a majority, come from the gravels of the 130-ft. terrace which constitutes the greater part of the ‘Palaeolithic Terrace’ of Reid (1) and is correlated with the Boyn Hill terrace of the Thames. Most of the less rolled of these belong to Middle Acheulian types, especially Acheul III of Breuil, and, though their exact position is rarely known, the correspondence is so usual that the gravels of this terrace near Bournemouth have been dated by them with some confidence. On the other hand the palaeolithic dating of other terraces has been the subject of some doubt. Recently the terraces have been mapped on the six-inch scale and their morphology measured with improved accuracy (2). It is the object of this paper to record some further implements from the local gravels, and in the light of the latest geological and archaeological evidence, to date the gravels in two critical areas, as a step towards more complete chronology here and elsewhere.