Nick Ashton.
Early Humans.
William Collins. 2017
Our understanding of the British Palaeolithic and Mesolithic has changed dramatically over the last three decades,
and yet not since H. J. Fleure’s A Natural History of Man in Britain (1951) has the New Naturalist Library
included a volume focused on the study of early humans and their environment.
In this long-overdue new book, distinguished archaeologist Nick Ashton uncovers the most recent findings,
following the remarkable survival and discovery of bones, stone tools and footprints which allow us to paint
a picture of the first human visitors to this remote peninsula of northwest Europe.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book explores the latest discoveries such as footprints at Happisburgh, Norfolk that are thought to be nearly one million years old, flint artefacts at Pakefield in Suffolk and mammoth remains at West Runton, among others. Ashton tells the story of the fauna, flora and deve1oping geography of Britain against the backdrop of an ever-changing climate. Above all, he explores how early people began as brief visitors to this wild remote land, but over time through better ways of acquiring food and developing new technologies, they began to tame, shape and dominate the countryside we see today.