Some of the oldest human-made tools in Britain were found at an overlooked archaeological site.
Many of the artifacts were found in the 1920s, but they were only recently dated.
Between 560,000 and 620,000 years ago, the collection of more than 330 hand axes and 251 flakes, scrapers, and core was probably created.
The style in which the tools were made is associated with a species of early human known as Homo heidelbergensis.
They could have been among the first humans to settle in Britain for the long term, with signs of their presence dating back 500,000 years, and artifacts left by an earlier occupation suggest short incursions into the territory as far back as 1 million years ago.
Neanderthals arrived 400,000 years ago, and our species didn't show up on the island until 40,000 years ago.
The sheer number and diversity of tools suggest that the early humans were very much at home in the region.
The hand axes and scrapers found at Fordwic may have been used to make animal hides.
The range of stone tools, not only from the original finds, but also from our new smaller excavations suggest that hominins were thriving and not just surviving.
There was a lot of handaxes in Fordwich. Key and his colleagues from the Royal Society open science.
The site is one of the few that gives a glimpse into life in the past.
Travel from France and Spain to Britain was more accessible during H. heidelbergensis' time than it is today. The region's temperatures were not always warm.
Human footprints and basic tools were found in Norfolk dating back more than 840,000 years ago, indicating at least a short trip to the northwest of Europe. When the climate was more liveable, permanent settlements probably wouldn't have been built until later.
Whether or not these ancient footprints were made by Homo antecessor, which lived in Spain at the time, is still being debated.
The remains at Fordwich are a bridge between the earliest travelers to Britain and the first settlers, and yet for 90 years, it was all but ignored.
There is a place in Britain called Fordwich. Key and his colleagues from the Royal Society open science.
Some of the oldest artifacts in Britain have been revealed in the current study.
Fordwich is the oldest stone tool site in Britain and one of the oldest in northwest Europe. The earliest example of scrapers in British archaeology can be found here.
There is a lot of different tools. The site produced some of the earliest hand axes ever found in Britain in the 1920s.
For the first time, we have found evidence of scrapers and piercing implements at this young age.
Key and his colleagues hope that Fordwich can become an important archaeological site.
The study was published in an open science journal.
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