NHER 11166 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced Palaeolithic handaxes and other worked flints, Little Ouse river valley (Norfolk, poorly located)

Palaeolithic finds recorded as having been found on the Norfolk side of the Little Ouse valley, but with no additional information regarding provenance.

FINDS IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Pitt Rivers Museum:
According to (S1) The Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) holds "6 Palaeos" marked as being from the "Little Ouse River". From the museum's records it is clear that the Pitt Rivers actually holds many more objects with this provenance. These include a large number in the museum's founding collections:
13 "ovates" (1884.122.110; 1884.122.112-114; 1884.122.116; 1884.122.119; 1884.122.121-123; 1884.122.127; 1884.122.132; 1884.122.137-138) and 5 "tool/weapons" (1884.122.118; 1884.122.128; 1884.122.131; 1884.122.135; 1884.122.140). All are probably handaxes. This collection also includes 1 Neolithic implement (1884.125.145) and an undated flint axe (1884.140.1612.1) with the same provenance.
Objects in the J. W. Flower collection marked as being from the "Valley of the Little Ouse, Norfolk" include 7 handaxes (1892.67.164; 1892.67.176; 1892.67.179; 1892.67.195-196; 1892.67.199; 1892.67.695) and 1 flake (1892.67.191). The Flower collection was donated to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History by his widow in 1892 and transferred to the Pitt Rivers museum in 1892 (S2).

Ashmolean Museum:
The Ashmolean Museum also holds a number of Palaeolithic artefacts that are recorded as being from the "Little Ouse valley". In 1982 these were listed by A. Lawson (NAU) as comprising:
1 handaxe (1885.9). Ex. Rev. P. Wyatt. From "Little Ouse river valley".
19 handaxes (AN1928.148.a-f and AN1928.148.h-t), 1 cleaver (AN1928.148.u) and 1 flake (AN1928.148.g). All Ex J. Evans. From "Little Ouse River Valley".
Information from (S3).

British Museum:
According to (S1) the British Museum holds abraded Palaeolithic flints that are listed as being from the "Little Ouse Valley" (95-941; 95-942; A.I 116; A.I 137). The museum's current records list the following artefacts with this provenance:
1 handaxe (1975,0306.63). Transferred from Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. Marked "Valley of Little Ouse Norfolk J.N.F".
6 handaxes, 1 flake tool and 1 flake (2011,8059.87). Ex. H. Christy. These are the finds listed by (S1), the accession numbers noted on this record card being the original Christy Collection numbers. Although Christy died in 1868, he left money which allowed the subsequent purchase of important collections.
5 handaxes (2011,8117.66). Collector/donor unknown.
These finds were previously recorded under NHER 11485.

Norwich Castle Museum (NCM):
The NCM holds a Palaeolithic handaxe marked "Valley of the Little Ouse River, Norfolk" (NWHCM : 1962.313). This is one of two handaxes that were transferred from the Guildford Museum (Surrey) in 1962. The second handaxe is marked "Valley of the Little Ouse River, Broomhill, Norfolk" and is therefore recorded under NHER 5641 (which details Palaeolithic objects with an unspecific "Broomhill" provenance).

Lapworth Museum:
The Birmingham University Lapworth Museum holds a Palaeolithic handaxe from the "Lower Ouse" Norfolk (B88). This object is listed in (S4) and was probably recovered in much the same area as the above finds.
Previously recorded as NHER 39477.

POSSIBLE PROVENANCE

It appears that most, if not all of the above artefacts were recovered during the late 19th century. A significant proportion were probably associated with the work of J. W. Flower, who collected many Palaeolithic artefacts in Norfolk around this time. A number of the objects are known to have been in his possession and it is quite likely that many of the other artefacts were also once part of Flower's Collection. It is, for example, noted in (S2) that the Little Ouse River material in the Pitt River's founding collection had probably either been given to the general by Flower or recovered during visits to his more productive sites.

Along much of its course the Little Ouse forms the boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk, although it appears that the majority of the above artefacts are recorded as being from the Norfolk side of the border. A number of locations along the course of the Little Ouse are known to have produced Palaeolithic artefacts during the late 19th century, including some of the county's most productive sites. Some indication of the possible source of the artefacts in question is given in the various publications produced by Flower and his contemporaries. In 1867 Flower published a description of a Palaeolithic implement that he had found in the Little Ouse valley, where for several years he had "…frequently looked for these implements in the gravel-beds on the banks of this river" (S5). It was noted that such artefacts occurred "very rarely" on the "left bank", by which he appears to have meant the Suffolk side of the valley. Many of the artefacts described in this article appear to have been recovered in the vicinity of Thetford, the majority from gravel pits at a site known as Red Hill, on Abbey Heath (NHER 5795). Flower reported that artefacts had also been recovered in the Thetford area by J. Evans, H. Prigg and a Mr Prestwich. In a subsequent paper (S6) Flower provided information on Palaeolithic material that he had subsequently recovered at four additional sites in the Little Ouse Valley: Broomhill on the north bank of the river (NHER 5642/NHER 5641); Gravel Hill, Brandon (Suffolk); Lakenheath (Suffolk) and Shrub Hill, Feltwell (NHER 5292). The discoveries made along the Little Ouse river during the late 19th century were also summarised by J. Evans in 1897 (S7). Evans noted the earlier discoveries by Flower and also mentioned a number of handaxes that had been recovered at Santon Downham and Santon Downham Warren; both on the Suffolk side of the river. It is clear from Evans' account that he had acquired part of Flower's collection and it is noted that the precise provenance of one handaxe from the Little Ouse valley was uncertain. Evans also figured an implement he had acquired from "Canon Greenwell, F. R. S…[who procured it]…from a Lakenheath workman, but it is uncertain whether it was found in the gravel near that place, or in one of the pits near Brandon".

Given that the more productive sites were given particular names by Flower and his contemporaries it could be argued that the unprovenanced "Little Ouse" finds are unlikely to come from these sites; these perhaps being stray surface finds or found in pits that produced relatively few artefacts. It is however clear that many of these objects changed hands several times before arriving at their respective museums, which almost certainly on occasions resulted in the loss of information regarding their original provenance.

P. Watkins (HES), 25 July 2014.