Three Ways Wharf, Uxbridge: a Lateglacial and Early Holocene hunter-gatherer site in the Colne valley

Abstract

• A series of five in situ lithic and faunal scatters in the Colne valley at Three Ways Wharf, Uxbridge, belong to two main phases of hunter-gatherer activity. The earlier, characterised by Late glacial bruised-edge ‘long blades’ associated with reindeer and horse, is dated to c 10,000 BP. The succeeding Early Mesolithic phase, with broad, obliquely-backed flint points predominantly associated with red and roe deer, is dated at c 9200 BP. Detailed analysis suggests these hunter-gatherer groups can now be seen as groups of people intent on pursuing their own independent and socially defined goals, and no longer solely in terms of their adaptive responses to environmental pressures.