Kimbridge Farm Quarry, Dunbridge

Gravel pits at Dunbridge, in the River Test valley, produced over 1,000 Lower Palaeolithic hand axes when they were being worked in the first half of the 20th century. A planning application for renewed extraction in 1987 met with stiff academic opposition as it threatened what was considered to be one of the most important, yet understudied sites in the Solent basin. As a result Wessex Archaeology undertook a geoarchaeological watching brief during the 17 years of gravel extraction at the pit. Sections were recorded and sampled and 198 artefacts, principally hand axes, collected with the primary aim of enhancing understanding of the geological context of this important Lower Palaeolithic location. Results of specific note included recovery of artefacts demonstrating elements of 'proto-Levallois' technology from within the Belbin Gravel deposition. Fully developed Levallois technology was present across both the Belbin Gravel and the Mottisfont Formation at Dunbridge, the latter having an otherwise relatively sparse Palaeolithic content. Through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) administered by English Heritage the results of the watching brief were combined with optically stimulated luminescence dating and placed within their geological context.