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Archaeology

Early human northerners

Nature volume 466, pages 189–190 (2010)Cite this article

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A site in Norfolk, UK, provides the earliest and northernmost evidence of human expansion into Eurasia. Environmental indicators suggest that these early Britons could adapt to a range of climatic conditions.

The Happisburgh site was revealed by coastal erosion. Plant and animal remains analysed by Parfitt et al. indicate that the early humans occupied a forest-fringed estuary of the ancient River Thames. An ensemble of knapped flint artefacts, which would have been used for cutting or piercing, provides the key evidence for human occupation. Apart from the reasonable assumption that the people who made these artefacts were hunter–gatherers, details about their population size or family structure remain elusive.

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Figure 1: Palaeomagnetic and climatic context for the human occupation of Europe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andrew P. Roberts and Rainer Grün are at the Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.,

    Andrew P. Roberts & Rainer Grün

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  1. Andrew P. Roberts
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  2. Rainer Grün
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Roberts, A., Grün, R. Early human northerners. Nature 466, 189–190 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/466189a

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