ABSTRACT
The various divisions of the Palaeolithic fall within earlier stages of the Quaternary than our present interglacial, the Flandrian or Holocene. Studies of the Palaeolithic content of Quaternary deposits therefore combine with analyses of sedimentology, palaeontology, palaeopedology and, in a wider sense, stratigraphy and geomorphology within a multidisciplinary approach. The various lines of investigation available within the sphere of Quaternary research may provide details of palaeoenvironment as well as a possible means of relative and/or absolute dating. Upper Palaeolithic artefacts do occur in fluviatile sediments, such as at Sproughton in Suffolk, and in other types of Late Quaternary sediment. There are many other examples of the reappraisal of classic Palaeolithic sites using a similar interdisciplinary approach based around Quaternary geology. One Quaternary site that requires urgent conservation and which has attracted the attention of both the earth science and archaeological communities is Eartham Quarry, Boxgrove.
