A REMARKABLE discovery of stone tools on the East Anglian coast has shown that human activity was present in northern Europe 200,000 years earlier than first thought, scientists have revealed.
A REMARKABLE discovery of stone tools on the East Anglian coast has shown that human activity was present in northern Europe 200,000 years earlier than first thought, scientists have revealed.
Working at low tides, archaeologists excavated 32 pieces of worked flint from exposed geological beds along the shoreline near Pakefield, north Suffolk.
New techniques have allowed scientists to date the tools to around 700,000 years ago.
Experts believe that at the time the tools were made the climate in East Anglia was balmy and the environment home to a wide range of animals and plants including lions, hippos and elephants.
The findings are published in this week's Nature magazine and have been described as “Stone Age gold”.
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