NHER 19376 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced Palaeolithic flint handaxes (Feltwell, poorly located)

Palaeolithic implements known to have been recovered in Feltwell during the late 19th century or early 20th century, but with little or no additional information regarding provenance.

FINDS IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Pitt Rivers Museum:
The Pitt Rivers museum holds a large number of Palaeolithic flint handaxes that were found in Feltwell during the late 19th century. The majority of these objects were recovered at Shrub Hill Farm (NHER 5292), where several hundred Palaeolithic implements were recovered during the 1860s and 1870s. There is however a single handaxe amongst the material from the J. W. Flower collection that is recorded as being simply from "Feltwell" (1892.67.255). This object is listed by Roberts (S1), who notes that Flower was reasonably precise with his labelling suggesting that this was probably indeed found at another site in the area.

Ashmolean Museum:
Wymer (S2) also describes an unprovenanced handaxe from Feltwell that had been found by Flower in 1868, although this is recorded as being in the Ashmolean. Although possibly a separate object, this may be an error and a confusion with the axe in the Pitt Rivers, as it appears that all of the Palaeolithic finds from Feltwell in the Ashmolean are from Shrub Hill.

British Museum:
The British Museums records suggest that it holds a handaxe with a general "Feltwell" provenanced (1976,0701.82; ex Fleming). The nature of this object is unclear, particularly as it no other sources appear to make reference to this object.

OTHER REPORTED FINDS

Pre 1981. Stray Find.
In 1981 a broken Palaeolithic flint handaxe-like implement was brought from a dealer by [1]. This object is marked "Valley of the Little Ouse, Feltwell, Norfolk".
Identified by A. Lawson (NAU), 25 June 1981. Compiled by W. Milligan (NCM), 25 June 1981 (to NAU July 1983).
Information from (S3).

NCM has a very poor photocopy of the handwriting on the tool. This seems to show similar writing to that on tools in the British Museum's Christy Collection that are marked only "Little Ouse Valley, Norfolk". A. Lawson (NAU) states there are similar tools in Ashmolean. Information from (S3). Various museums hold objects with only a "Little Ouse Valley" provenance, the majority of which are likely to have been recovered by J. W. Flower and other antiquarian collectors during the late 19th century. See NHER 11166 for further details. As with the objects in the Pitt Rivers Museum it is possible that this handaxe was from the quarry pits at Shrub Hill Farm, Feltwell (NHER 5292), where many Palaeolithic objects were recovered during the 1860s and 1870s.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 19 November 2014.