Hand Axes III

A major, internationally important archaeological project in East Anglia concerning early human history known as AHOB - Ancient Human Origins in Britain came about after amateur fossil hunter Mike Chambers accidentally discovered a curious hand axe in the Happisburgh cliffs in Norfolk in 2000.

Happisburgh sits at a very critical point on the Norfolk coast. The community has long suffered the aggressive ravages of the sea, which will soon consume it entirely. Strange then to think that 12,000 years ago Happisburgh and the whole region formed a land bridge to Europe. We are part of the European landmass and the first Britons here came north on foot.

The AHOB team undertook phased archaeological digs between 2001 and 2011. The project involved specialists from several institutions including the Natural History Museum and the British Museum. The discoveries and outcomes have fundamentally changed our understanding of our early human origins in Britain.

I was fortunate to be invited to this major archaeological project. I cannot tell you how extraordinary it is to watch a rectangular incision into the brain (?) of the beach. A painful, peeling away and ‘surgery’ undertaken. And down, down into the belly with the sea pounding so close and threatening to inundate, so pumps installed to avoid it choking. The Earth suddenly seemed an unfortunate patient. I could almost feel a stirring, primal & threatening heartbeat.

Watching American elections are painful affairs, you need a degree in the USA electoral structures to fully understand it all. And it can also take days to complete each state’s electoral count. President Trump refused to accept that he was going to lose the election, but did understand that Pennsylvania’s result was critical. The whole world held its breath. Joe Biden reclaimed the state by a narrow margin ensuring that he had indeed won the election for the next Presidency.