NHER 14417 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced Palaeolithic flint implements (South Wootton, poorly located)

This record details a number of poorly provenanced Palaeolithic objects that are known to have been recovered at South Wootton, mostly during the late 19th century. A number of these finds were previously recorded as being from a particular pit (NHER 3286), but are actually associated with little or no information regarding their exact provenance (although it is entirely possible that they are indeed from this site).

REPORTED DISCOVERIES

1870. Stray Find.
Found by J. Wyatt "…in gravel in a pit near Lynn - the base of which is seldom reached on account of its lying below the level of the water table…":
2 Palaeolithic flint implements; "…an oval flint implement, well formed and deeply stained, and another of rude workmanship".
These discoveries were reported by Evans (S1).
According to Wymer (S2) these implements both survive in museum collections, one in the Ashmolean Museum and the other in the Bedford Museum (see below for further details).

1890s. Stray Find.
It is noted in (S3) that several Palaeolithic objects had been recovered by C. B. Plowright "…at South Wootton, about two miles north of Lynn." Many were apparently of "Mousterian facies", although one was "differing in preservation from the rest" and therefore thought to be earlier and potentially from a different pit. It is noted on (S4) and in (S2) that Marr subsequently recorded that some of the Palaeolithic material was from a pit on "Risney Road" at c. 15m O.D (S5). This is probably a reference to at least some of Plowright's finds, although the provenance quoted by Wymer is clearly garbled. Plowright donated his collection of flints to the King's Lynn Museum and at least one of his South Wootton pieces is marked as being from the "Rising Road" - almost certainly a reference to the Castle Rising Road. During the late 19th century this road was flanked by a number of sand and gravel pits, including several on South Wootton Common and Ling Common.
It is also noted in (S9) that Plowright had recovered Palaeolithic "flakes" at South Wootton.
See below for details of the surviving Plowright finds.

FINDS IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Roe (S6) lists the surviving material from South Wootton as:
4 handaxes.
2 retouched flakes/flake implements.
21 flakes.
These objects are recorded as being held by the British Museum, the King's Lynn Museum and the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford). This list includes the 19 unmodified flakes held by the Norwich Castle Museum (NCM) that are known to be from NHER 3286.

Ashmolean Museum:
This museum holds a single handaxe from South Wootton that had previously been in the possession of J. Wyatt (AN1885.5). This object is presumably one of the implements described on (S4) and in (S2) as very rolled. It is one of the South Wootton handaxes listed by Roe (S6).

Bedford Museum:
This museum holds a single handaxe from South Wootton (2517). This object is described on (S4) and in (S2) as rolled almost to an oval pebble. According to (S2) it is one of the two handaxes found by Wyatt in 1870. It is noted on (S4) that this museum had another handaxe with this provenance (2501), but that this could not be located. Not amongst the material listed by Roe (S6).

British Museum:
The British Museum holds 3 handaxes from South Wootton. These are presumably the 3 Palaeolithic "ovates" listed in (S7), although as noted on (S8), it appears that these are not actually now part of the Sturge Collection. The museum's current records suggest that these objects are actually amongst material from a W. G. Smith (2011,8107.116). These are the other three handaxes listed by Roe (S6) and are described on (S4) and in (S2) as very rolled. These are also the three handaxes from South Wootton that were seen at the British Museum by E. Rose and described on (S8) as "…very weathered and obviously surface finds".

King's Lynn Museum:
The King's Lynn Museum holds a number of potentially Palaeolithic objects from South Wootton, the majority of which were originally part of C. B. Plowright's collection. These objects include a side scraper that was one of the "Palaeoliths" from the area described and illustrated in (S9) (KILLM : 2001.542). This implement is also described by Wymer on (S4) and in (S2). Wymer also identified several other probable Palaeolithic artefacts in this collection, including:
1 convergent scraper (KILLM : 2001.514).
1 thick very rolled primary flake (KILLM : 2001.502).
1 thick very rolled primary flake (accession number uncertain).
These are presumably the other objects listed by Roe (S6).

The Plowright Collection also includes a range of other worked flints from South Wootton. A number of these were originally recorded in a way that suggests they were believed to be Palaeolithic, although they were clearly not regarded as such by those that subsequently examined this material. These more dubious objects include:
1 "handaxe" (KILLM : 2001.511)
2 flakes (KILLM : 2001.651-652).
1 "scraper" (KILLM : 2001.629).
5 "choppers" (KILLM : 2001.660; KILLM : 2001.664-667).
All of these objects appear to have been found during the late 1880s and early 1890s.

The KLM also holds 2 "very crude" scrapers that were found by another individual around the same time (Hillen; KILLM : 2001.602-603). These are presumably also dubious artefacts.

Many of the objects described above are also noted in (S10) and (S11), although in both cases this material is conflated with that from NHER 3286.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 10 February 2016.