Hoxnian

An interglacial stage of Great Britain that is correlated with the Needian Interglacial of the Netherlands, the Holstein Interglacial of northern Europe, the Mindel-Riss Interglacial of classical Alpine Europe, and is also considered to be approximately contemporaneous with the Yarmouth Interglacial of North America. It is named after the site of Hoxne where deposits are older than the extreme range of radiocarbon dating (70,000 bp). Some Hoxnian deposits are stratified above Anglian Glacial deposits, others below Wolstonian glacial deposits. Acheulian and Clactonian artifacts are found in Hoxnian deposits. In addition, parts of hominid skull have been found in Hoxnian gravels at Swanscombe.

A group of British Quaternary interglacial deposits named after the site of Hoxne. They occur as isolated patches, related by pollen analysis and the analysis of other plant and animal fossils. Their exact age is unknown, but they are older than the extreme range of radiocarbon dating (70,000 years bp) and can be shown by palaeomagnetism to be younger than 700,000 years bp. Some Hoxnian deposits are stratified above Anglian glacial deposits, others below Wolstonian glacial deposits (see Table 6, page 419). There is some evidence that the Hoxnian deposits represent more than one interglacial. This in turn implies that the Anglian deposits may represent more than one cold stage. Acheulian and Clactonian artefacts are found in Hoxnian deposits. In addition, parts of a hominid skull have been found in Hoxnian gravels at Swans-combe. It used to be thought that the Hoxnian represented only one interglacial (the penultimate), and the term is still used with this meaning. Now that the Hoxnian is known to be more complex, such a usage is questionable; ‘Hoxnian’ is better confined to the description of a particular group of sediments.