| Description | Palaeolithic hand axe apparently found on Baildon Moor; no precise details of the find spot and even the grid ref. cited may be inadequate. The axe forms part of the Samuel Crowther Collection (now in the Manor House Museum, Ilkley). No further information. Finding of Palaeolithic material is rare in West Yorkshire and there is little tangible evidence to prove that this area was occupied during the Palaeolithic period. The Calder valley was mainly ice free, and a group of Palaeolithic material has been found around Stanley (PRN's 3812, 3813,3814), but further north, it is apparently impossible to determine the maximum ice margin. This upland area was certainly surrounded by Devensian ice, which overlapped onto the south western parts of Rombald's Moor. The more northerly parts, including Addingham High Moor, Ilkley Moor and Burley Moor, are devoid of Devensian deposits, but their absence here cannot absolutely preclude that they were ever overidden by ice. West Yorkshire was clear of Devensian ice by c.10000, even 11000 B.C. and it is possible that this would have allowed time for the migration of a very late Upper Palaeolithic culture into recently deglaciated areas, as occurred, for example, in the Creswell Crags region of Derbyshire. Although the W.Yorks. uplands may not, at first sight, appear to have been particularly pleasant environments at this time, there is evidence (see W.Yorks Survey to AD 1500, p.75) to suggest that for a short period (c.10900 10300 B.C.), much of England experienced a remarkable climatic amelioration. Though virtually undetectable from pollen evidence, this is reflected in the presence of fossil insects, which indicate average summer temperatures similar to those of today. It is possible therefore that during these few hundred years, or in the millennium following the general improvement in climate after 10000 B. C., hunters preserving a very late Upper Pal. tradition may have found the West Yorks.uplands a worthwhile source of game, particularly in summer. N.B. finds of further Palaeolithic material in Pennines on Midgley Moor (PRN 3809) and Warley moor (PRN 3810). |