mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Hoxnian Interglacial The type site for the Hoxnian Interglacial is in a brick pit at Hoxne in Suffolk This period which is dated to roughly 425,000-375,000 years ago, had a particularly rich flora and fauna. Birch and pine gave way to temperate mixed oak forest with warmth loving species such as lime, Ivy, Holly, Yew and Mistletoe. Apart from yew the main understorey shrubs were Hazel and Alder. Later Hornbeam expands as does spruce and fir with the deterioration of soils. The continued presence of lime and later Box and vine (/Vitis/) indicate persistent high summer temperatures. The soil deterioration would be accelerated by species such as the spruce, fir, Beech, and the Wingnut (/Pterocarya fraxinifolia/) (now not native nearer than the Caucasus). As the climate cooled, fir, birch, pine and spruce expand once more. The mammalian faunal assemblage of the Hoxnian Interglacial was very similar to that of the Cromerian Intergalcial and included Russian Desman, Mountain Hare, Rabbit, the two beaver species, Macaque, Ancestral Wolf, Cave Bear, Pine Marten, Badger, Wild Cat, Cave Lion, Horse, Hippopotamus, Etruscan Rhinoceros, Straight-tusked Elephant, Red, Roe and Fallow Deer, Irish Elk, Wild Boar, Aurochs and ?Swanscombe Man? found at Swanscombe, by the River Thames near London. Pollen samples taken from the Lower Gravels at Swanscombe suggest that reed swamps, fen habitats and light woodland surrounded the site. ?Swanscombe Man? was a late /Homo erectus//early Archaic /H. sapiens/. He, or rather she, is represented by part of an approximately 380,000?360,000 year old skull. Archaic /H. sapiens/ had a "mosaic" of features and looks partly like /H. erectus/ and partly like anatomically modern humans. They flourished from a quarter to a half million years ago, and their remains have been found from Swanscombe in the west to China in the east. The /H. sapiens/ had an even larger brain and smaller teeth than /H. erectus/ but still had large brows and a flat skull. They knew extensive use of hand-axes, cleavers, and various types of flake tools. Their culture is known as the Lower Paleolithic (Early Stone Age). The appearance of the Norway Lemming towards the end of the Hoxnian heralded the start of another glacial period. *Previous Chapter* *Next Chapter* * * *Natural History Home Page * * * *Local History Home Page* * * *Site Home Page* * E-mail *