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Palaeolithic
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About 500,000 BC to 10,001 BC
Palaeolithic means 'Old Stone Age'.
It covers a very long period from the first appearance in Britain of tool-using humans (about 500,000 years ago) to the retreat of the glacial ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere (about 12,000 years ago).
Archaeologists divide the period up into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, the Lower Palaeolithic being the oldest phase. This period began many, many years after the dinosaurs became extinct (about 65 million years ago). It was during the Palaeolithic period that modern humans replaced Neanderthals, and megafauna, such as woolly mammoths roamed through the landscape.
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PARK *
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An enclosed piece of land, generally large in area, used for hunting, the cultivation of trees, for grazing sheep and cattle or visual enjoyment. Use more specific type where known.
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FINDSPOT *
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The approximate location at which stray finds of artefacts were found. Index with object name.
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PEN *
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A small enclosure for cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, etc. Use more specific type where known.
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QUARRY *
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An excavation from which stone for building and other functions, is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc.
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FARM *
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A tract of land, often including a farmhouse and ancillary buildings, used for the purpose of cultivation and the rearing of livestock, etc. Use more specific type where known.
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* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)
