Ice Age Worcestershire

Below are a number of resources about Ice Age Worcestershire that you can download or request via explorethepast@worcestershire.gov.uk

Children

• KS2 Ice Age notes for educators: Ideas and information aimed at Key Stage 2 (PDF download KS2 Ice Age notes for educators)
• Schools’ Resources Box: Contains replica artefacts to aid the teaching of early prehistory. Free to borrow from Museums Worcestershire (general prehistory box) or Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service (Ice Age box).
• Schools’ digital pack:  Aimed at Key Stage 2, this pack can be used on its own or in conjunction with the resource box above (PDF download VIEW KS2 Ice Age school resource booklet or PRINT KS2 Ice Age school resource booklet).
• Schools’ prehistory workshops: Delivered either in school or at The Hive. Please get in touch to discuss availability and cost.
• Geological layers: A visual guide to the formation of geological and archaeological layers, for use with the digital schools’ pack (geological_layers PDF download).
• Creature Features! Fun facts about some of the animals that once inhabited Worcestershire (Creature_Feature PDF download).

Adults

• Ice Age Geology Booklet: An in depth guide to the county’s Quaternary geological past, produced by the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust in partnership with WAAS and Museums Worcestershire. Available in print from WAAS and H&WEHT.
• Putting the Palaeolithic into Worcestershire’s HER – A toolkit:  A report on the 2013 Historic England funded project, including analysis of the research undertaken and a toolkit for assessing the Palaeolithic potential of sites in Worcestershire.
• Palaeolithic research in Worcestershire: Future Work and Research Priorities: (Palaeolithic Research Questions PDF download)
• Ice Age touring exhibition: Material and information from the 2018 exhibitions in The Hive and Worcester Art Gallery and Museum is available to borrow.  Please get in touch for further details.
• The William Smith geology map: A free digital copy of the William Smith geology map, created in 1815.  By downloading this map you are agreeing to use it for non-commercial, educational purposes only.  Worcestershire County Council retains the reproduction rights on this digital map and a licence fee is applicable for any commercial reuse.  A higher resolution version can also be requested from WAAS.  This is also free for non-commercial, educational purposes.

An exciting Ice Age Ponds Project is underway in Herefordshire, supported by development funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). The project focuses on incredible heritage ponds that were created around 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. Remarkably many of these ponds still exist today!  More information on this fascinating project can be found on the project website.

In 2022 The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust is launching seven walking and cycling trails in the Bromsgrove and SW Birmingham districts to showcase the erratic boulders that were deposited in north Worcestershire and Birmingham by glaciers thousands of years ago.  Find out more about the trails and the origins of the boulders https://erraticsproject.org/

Articles relating to Worcestershire

Buteux, S Lang A.T.O, 2003. Lost but not forgotten: the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the West Midlands

Russell, O, Daffern, N, Hancox, E, Nash A. 2018. Putting the Palaeolithic into Worcestershire’s HER: An evidence base for development management  

Shaw, A, Russell, O, Daffern, N. 2016. The Palaeolithic in Worcestershire, UK

The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust also has detailed geological information on their website

National Resources

PALNETUK is a Network for the Palaeolithic and Pleistocene Record of the British Isles. The network is intended to connect experts working directly in Ice Age research with heritage professionals involved in the protection, management, interpretation and curation of archaeological and environmental records of Pleistocene contexts. This website provides background and resources for the British Isles.

The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB) was a national project that ran from 2001 to 2011. Take a look at the AHOB website to see a database of British Palaeolithic sites and the project’s research publications.

The National Ice Age Network was a project that expanded and built upon the success of The Shotton Project. It focused on the Pleistocene (Ice Age) remains of plants, animals and people found in England’s sand and gravel quarries. The project results and resources, including identification guides and information sheets, are archived on the Archaeology Data Service.