{"id":595,"date":"2025-01-31T18:14:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T18:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/uor-nhm-partnership\/?p=595"},"modified":"2025-06-02T18:16:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T17:16:52","slug":"early-wood-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/uor-nhm-partnership\/early-wood-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a point: early wood technologies of the British Isles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Partnership seed-funded project – Making a point: early wood technologies of the British Isles<\/span><\/h1>\n

The main aim of this project, supported by partnership seed-funding, was to record and analyse the \u2018Clacton spear point <\/span>in three dimensions using a variety of state-of the-art imaging techniques, and interpret the internal and external features to better understand the object\u2019s \u2018biography\u2019.<\/span> D<\/span>iscovered in Clacton-on-Sea in 1911, the spear point (now on permanent display in the Human Evolution Gallery) is an important artefact, representing what is thought to be the world\u2019s earliest weapon, but it has not been assessed using modern techniques.<\/p>\n

The team, which included the University of Reading Archaeology Department’s Annemieke Milks, and NHM Centre for Human Evolution Research (CHER)’s Silvia Bello, Simon Parfitt, and Lucile Crete, undertook standard microscopy, 3D microscopy using the Alicona G5+, micro-Computed Tomography (HMX-ST 225 CT system), and 3D scanning (Artec Space Spider). They also created CT scans and a model of the earliest cast made to track and understand the post-excavation alterations to the artefact.<\/p>\n

Initial results indicate internal features showing that the hominins who made the Clacton spear point were aware of the wood\u2019s material properties, bearing similarities of design to later wooden spears from Germany. The standard and 3D microscopy coupled with micro-Computed tomography together show how the hominins had specific strategies for shaping the tool.<\/span><\/p>\n

The team is also undertaking archival research to better contextualise the find spot in order to test its age attribution to Marine Isotope Stage 11, or ca. 400,000 years ago.<\/span>\u00a0The analysis and images are currently being prepared to submit as a journal article in summer 2025.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Silvia Bello preparing the 3D microscopy with <\/span>the Alicona G5+ using a resin cast of the <\/span>Clacton spear point.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seed-Funding<\/a>\u00a0is available to support the development of collaborative projects to be undertaken\u00a0<\/span>by researchers at the University of Reading and the\u202fNatural History\u202fMuseum.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A seed-funded project to analyse the \u2018Clacton spear point\u2019, an important artefact thought to be the world\u2019s earliest weapon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":901,"featured_media":608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,20],"tags":[],"coauthors":[15],"class_list":["post-595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking a point: early wood technologies of the British Isles - University of Reading and Natural History Museum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/uor-nhm-partnership\/early-wood-technologies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making a point: early wood technologies of the British Isles - 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