Uncovering the past

Former Time Team archaeologist Phil Harding helped hunt for prehistoric fossils in gravel dredged from the North Sea on a visit to our Dagenham site.

Regular cargo monitoring, which is carried out by Wessex Archaeology, is essential to maintaining our dredging in area 240, which is around 12 miles off the coast of Great Yarmouth in East Anglia.

The zone is internationally important due to the large number of finds – such as hand axes, flints and mammoth bones – that have been uncovered since 2011, which indicate early man was living and hunting there around 300,000 years ago.

“At that time, it was dry land with rivers; now it’s 25 metres below sea level,” said Heidelberg Materials Marine resources manager Dr Nigel Griffiths.

“Phil was visiting as part of his role with Wessex Archaeology and wanted to thank members of the site team who help arrange the regular inspections and get actively involved, often making important finds.”

Phil attended with two colleagues from Wessex Archaeology, as well as a senior advisor at Historic England, the regulator for marine licences, and spent around five hours checking recent loads with the Heidelberg Materials team.

“It’s a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we did find part of a hand axe and several bone fragments, highlighting the important role responsible marine dredging can play in uncovering our archaeological and historical past,” added Nigel.

“It was a really successful visit and I’m now looking at arranging a trip for the site team to meet some of the experts at the Natural History Museum who evaluate the finds.”