The British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: Some Problems, Methods of Study and Preliminary Results

Abstract

This is an interim report on a Cambridge Research Thesis which has been in progress for three years, and which will eventually cover the major part of the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. The whole project may be divided into four phases:1. Collection and examination of all the available material;2. Selection of those groups of implements appropriate for study;3. Application of objective methods of study, mainly in the field of metrical and statistical analysis;4. Interpretation of the results.The present paper gives some account of what has so far been done under the first three of these headings. It is still too early to attempt any major conclusions, although it is perhaps fair to indicate the lines along which it can be hoped they will take shape.