It was during the Ice Age that today's world took shape. It was then that many of the animals that share our world - including our own species Homo sapiens - evolved, while others were driven to extinction. These developments took place against the background of a climate that see-sawed between cold and warm, and the advance and retreat of huge ice sheets, which shaped the British landscape. If we think beyond the short term, we are still living in the Ice Age. Understanding its changing climates, environments and inhabitants is essential to understanding today's world and some of the challenges that we face.
The sands and gravels laid down by rivers contain perhaps the most important archives of the Ice Age that we possess, in the form of sediments, fossils and human artefacts. Quarrying opens up these archives. It enables Ice Age climates, environments, plants and animals to be reconstructed in remarkable detail. It shines a light on human evolution. However, quarrying is also destructive. Only if we know what to look for, and make a positive effort to adequately record and recover what is found, can the benefits of quarrying for research into the Ice Age be realised.
This handbook, packed with practical information and guidance, and with more than 140 illustrations, many in colour, is written for all who care about this goal: geologists and archaeologists, those charged with caring for the natural and historic environment, anybody with an interest in our past and future, and not least those working in the quarry industry.
