 The majority of the evidence for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupation in East Anglia survives as redeposited flakes and tools recovered from river gravel deposits.These river gravels were laid by the ancestral Thames and Bytham River systems.Large quantities of artefacts were identified from gravel quarries during the 19th and early 20th century due to the increased demand for gravel in the construction industry and the hand sorting of this gravel.