| Achoimre: | <p>This thesis investigates the degree of intensity of Late Glacial human occupation of open landscapes in the English East Midlands, including evidence for chronological and regional patterns in the timing of human re-occupation and presence during the Late Glacial Interstadial (GI-1e-a; c. 14,700 to 12,900 BP; Rasmussen et al. 2014:Table 1). The regional focus is on the open, low-lying landscapes situated between known Late Upper Palaeolithic cave sites in central England and the present-day North Sea coast. Emphasis is placed on the identification of preferential site location patterns in riverine and lacustrine environments, as investigated through two site datasets comprising data from legacy site archives, Historic Environment Records, and the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Further attention has been directed towards lithic typological and technological attribute analyses of three open-air site assemblages (Farndon Fields, Nottinghamshire, Seamer Carr K, North Yorkshire, and Risby Warren, North Lincolnshire).</p>
<p>This thesis presents evidence that the current understanding of Late Upper Palaeolithic uplands site distribution only affords a partial view of the intensity and degree of human presence during the Late Glacial Interstadial. Based on significant new discoveries of diagnostic surface finds, lithic scatters, and open-air locales of high archaeological potential this picture is gradually beginning to change. The findings of this thesis strongly indicate that the open, lowland landscapes in the extended East Midlands research area were occupied by Late Glacial human groups to a far greater degree of intensity than posited by existing estimates and interpretations. In documenting how low-lying riverine and lacustrine environments out in the open landscapes represented particularly attractive focal points for human occupation during the Late Glacial Interstadial, my observations and results clearly provide essential evidence to better contextualise the existing information concerning human occupation of upland areas and cave sites.</p>
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