Prehistoric settlement discovered on planned site for US Embassy in London

A prehistoric campsite has been uncovered along the Thames River in an area set aside for the new US Embassy in London, according to a report in Live Science. Researchers have not yet been able to narrow down a specific time period, but have estimated that the site dates back to between 12,000 and 500,000 years. If it is the latter, the discovery will be hailed as a very significant finding.

“Prehistoric sites in London are extremely rare and to have such a vast horizon preserved is quite significant,” said Kasia Olchowska, a senior archaeologist at the Museum of London Archaeology.

Archaeologists were carrying out excavations ahead of the Embassy’s construction when they uncovered Stone Age tools, the charred remains of campfires, animal bones, and a possible fish trap made up of two rows of disintegrating wooden stakes stretching over an area 12 meters long.