Friday, July 9, 2010

Earliest N. European settlement discovered

Earliest human settlement in BritainA reconstruction of prehistoric humans living around Happisburgh, UK about 900,000 years ago (LiveScience.com/John Sibbick/AHOB).

Ancient humans braved the cold in Britain over 800,000 years ago to create the first known settlement in northern Europe, according to researchers. Their finding predates past evidence of prehistoric humans in Britain by at least 100,000 years. It also suggests that the early humans managed to survive in the cold northern climate, contrary to past thinking.

"We have found stone tools in several horizons, so they were there for at least several generations, if not longer," said Nick Ashton, an archaeologist and curator at the British Museum in London. More than 70 flint tools and flakes turned up during an archaeological dig at the shore of Happisburgh in the northeastern part of England's Norfolk region. More>>

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