A site on the lower Thames in Kent, southern England, of major importance on account of the series of river deposits of the 30-metre terrace exposed in Barnfield Pit and elsewhere. These deposits contain useful environmental evidence, including abundant mollusc and mammal remains and large assemblages of stone tools. The Lower Gravels have a Clacton ian type assemblage, while the Middle Gravels have Acheulian, with numerous hand axes. Following the Barnfield Pit series comes the ‘coombe rock’ of Bakers Hole, and the channel filling of Ebbsfleet. Swanscombe is best known for the three skull pieces (occipital and two parietals) making up Swanscombe man, usually now classified along with Steinheim man as the earliest Homo sapiens of archaic type. The skull bones are considerably thicker than those of modem European or Neanderthal skulls.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied