Unboxing Boxgrove - Dirt 122

What this episode covers

This week, Anna introduces Amber to the site of Boxgrove, in what is now Sussex, England. It's one of the oldest known hominin sites in the UK, and features the remains of our early relative, Homo heidelbergensis. Join us to learn more about the Muddle in the Middle, the world's hardest jigsaw puzzle, and the molecular clock. Links * The man who died half a million years ago (Current Archaeology) [https://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/specials/timeline/boxgrove.htm#:~:text=Discovery,of%20human%20occupation%20in%20Britain] * We may now know what our common ancestor with Neanderthals looked like (New Scientist) [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2239329-we-may-now-know-what-our-common-ancestor-with-neanderthals-looked-like/] * Boxgrove Project Blog [https://boxgroveproject.wordpress.com/about/] * The Middle Pleistocene human tibia from Boxgrove (Science Direct) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/] * Flint formed in chalk (The Geological Society) [https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Education-and-Careers/Ask-a-Geologist/Earth-Materials/Flint-Formed-in-Chalk#:~:text=Flint%20is%20a%20microcrystalline%20rock,Chalk%20carbonate%20grain%20by%20grain.&text=The%20silica%20that%20formed%20the,structure%20of%20many%20marine%20organisms] * Boxgrove: how we found Europe's oldest bone tools – and what we learned about their makers (The Conversation) [https://theconversation.com/boxgrove-how-we-found-europes-oldest-bone-tools-and-what-we-learned-about-their-makers-144340] * Europe's Oldest Bone Tools Hint at Early Hominin Sophistication (Smithsonian Magazine) [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/europes-earliest-bone-tools-hint-early-hominin-sophistication-180975564/] Contact * Email the Dirt Podcast: [email protected] Affiliates * Wildnote [http://www.wildnoteapp.com/] * TeePublic [https://www.teepublic.com/?ref_id=5724&ref_type=aff] * Timeular [https://timeular.com/ref/chriswebster/]