NHER 20472 (Find Spot record) - Multi period finds including Late Upper Palaeolithic worked flints

Various finds recovered in this field from 1979 onwards during fieldwalking and metal-detecting (many previously recorded under separate NHERs). This field is also a possible source of at least part of a large collection of poorly-provenanced worked flints that was brought in to the Norwich Castle Museum during the 1980s. [14].

FINDS POTENTIALLY FROM THIS SITE

Spring 1985 or earlier. Fieldwalking.
In early 1985 a range of worked flints were brought into the Norwich Castle Museum for identification by [5]. These were apparently from either this site or NHER 7859 (the ground's of the finder's house in Hellesdon), being described as from "area of either of these sites". These objects were listed as including:
2 ?prehistoric very large flint 'pot boilers'.
1 undatable prehistoric (or no date suggested) flint trial piece, 2 flakes, 2 crude cores, 7 retouched flakes, 2 borers, 4 end scrapers and 2 unfinished roughouts for small bifacial tools.
8 Late Upper Palaeolithic two-platform flint blade cores, 1 burin and 1 blade.
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic (or later) flint long blade, 1 flake, 3 cores and 4 retouched flakes (2 of which could have been used as crude awls).
11 Late Upper Palaeolithic/Mesolithic flint blades and 1 flake.
7 Mesolithic flint blades, 4 cores and 1 core burin.
3 Mesolithic/Neolithic axe roughouts.
1 Neolithic retouched flint flake and 4 scrapers.
2 Late Neolithic flint 'tortoise' [Levallois] flint cores.
20 ?Neolithic chunky flint cores and 1 thick flake from similar core. ?Neolithic industrial waste?
Identified by J. J. Wymer (NAU), Spring 1985. Compiled by W. Milligan. See list in file.

Pre 13 December 1985. Fieldwalking.
Further finds brought in by [5], again reportedly either from this site or NHER 7859.
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic two-platform flint blade core and 1 fine burin (or 'bec de flute') made on blade.
2-6 Late Upper Palaeolithic/Mesolithic flint blades.
1 Neolithic (or earlier) large flint roughout, probably for core.
8 Neolithic flint cores, 3 flakes, 1 hammerstone, 1 borer, 1 retouched flake, 1 end scraper and 2-6 blades.
6 post-medieval pottery sherds.
1 undatable bone fragment.
Identified and compiled by J. J. Wymer (NAU), December 1985. See list in file. The burin is probably one that was subsequently donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.227).

Pre September 1986. Fieldwalking.
Further finds "from round about site 7859", brought in by [5] in September 1986. This assemblage (which included no pieces of probable Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic date) is detailed under NHER 7859.

Early 1987 or before. Fieldwalking.
Further finds "from either site" brought in by [5] in early 1987:
1 Mesolithic/Neolithic simple flaked flint axehead.
7 Neolithic flakes (some probably industrial waste), 1 blade, 6 cores, 1 core tablet, 2 bifacially-worked flints and 3 retouched flakes.
1 ?Neolithic core preparation flake.
1 modern squared flint.
Also 1 probable road flint ("pseudo carinate flint axe").

Given the finds known to have been recovered both at this site and in the field to the north (NHER 16635) it is reasonably likely that many of the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic flints were indeed recovered at (or near) this location. It would also be unsurprising if much of the Neolithic material was also from this field, given that fieldwalking in 1979 had identified a prolific scatter of Neolithic/Bronze Age flints here (see below). It should be noted that it is possible that some of these flints are pieces that had already been seen by the museum (and therefore also detailed elsewhere).

The poorly-provenanced Late Upper Palaeolithic flints are noted in (S1) and it appears that at least some of these pieces are amongst a collection of material that was subsequently donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.227). At present the exact composition of this collection remains uncertain - the only piece known to be held by the museum is an undeveloped blade core first seen in Spring 1985.

Due to the nature of the material recorded this site is also possibly the source of a poorly-provenanced, rare Upper Palaeolithic dihedral flint burin that was also found by [5] in around 1970 and identified by the British Museum. See NHER 11514 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 June 2014.

FINDS FROM THIS SITE

Autumn 1979. Fieldwalking.
Finds recovered by [1] on surface of drilled field, above river.
Found at Context 1 (area centred at [2]; finder's Site 32b):
14 Neolithic/Bronze Age flint flakes, 6 scrapers, 1 blade core and 1 irregular core.
1 medieval pottery sherd.
Donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1999.1.15.2).
Previously recorded as NHER 20016.

Found at Context 2 (area centred at [3]; finder's Site 32a):
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade core. Listed in (S1) as a two-opposed platform blade core, 115mm long. Presumably amongst the material originally identified as Neolithic/Bronze Age.
100 Neolithic/Bronze Age heavy flint flakes, 15 blades, 7 irregular cores and 4 scrapers (a sample of a prolific flint scatter).
1 undatable tap slag fragment.
Donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1999.1.15.3). According to the museum's records this collection also include a possible Roman pottery sherd (?greyware).
Previously recorded as NHER 20017.

Identified by A. J. Lawson (NAU), 10 September 1980 and compiled by J. J. Wymer (NAU), 5 December 1983.
Information from (S2).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 May 2014.

8 October 1980. Field Observation.
Found at Context 3 (area centred at [4]) after topsoil removed for pipe trench:
1 prehistoric flint blade core, 1 core fragment, 4 flakes, 1 blade and 1 large end scraper.
1 post-medieval pottery sherd.
Donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1998.120.3).
Flints identified by F. Healy (NAU). Compiled by A. Rogerson (NAU), 23 October 1980.
Information from (S2).
Previously recorded as NHER 16637.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 May 2014.

1983. Fieldwalking.
Found by [5], south of David Rice Hospital, west of Low Road, at [6]:
1 Neolithic broken greenstone axe. Petrology no. N270 (not sliced by May 1984). See (S3) (copy of drawing on reverse in file).
1 Roman pottery sherd (base of 2nd- to 3rd-century greyware jar)
Pottery donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1984.203).
Identified by A. Gregory (NAU), 12 March 1984.
Information from (S2).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 May 2014.

1984. Fieldwalking.
Additional finds recovered by [5]:
Found in vicinity of Context 2 (at [7] - accurate findspot subsequently supplied by finder):
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade core. Described by finder as 'mammoth scraper'. See drawing (S4).
A superb example (compare with examples from Titchwell (S5) and Sproughton (S6)). The scraper like edge is part of the core preparation; single cresting as opposed to double - methods of maintaining the regularity of the core. The platforms are both carefully facetted (prepared).
Previously recorded as NHER 20017.

Found at [8]:
1 Upper Palaeolithic/Mesolithic crested flint flake from preparation of blade core.
Undatable prehistoric stone-struck flint flakes. Resembling their Clactonian counterparts but of indeterminate age.
Crested flake donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.227).
Previously recorded as NHER 21016.

Found at Context 4 (area centred on [9]):
6 Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blades.
Previously recorded as NHER 21019.

Flints identified by J. J. Wymer (NAU). Compiled by W. Milligan (NCM), 15 August 1984 and 14 November 1984. Information from (S2).
These discoveries were reported in (S7). The blade core is probably one of those described in (S8). These finds are also noted in (S1), suggesting that at least some are now part of the collection subsequently donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.227).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 28 May 2014.

April 1986. Stray Find.
Found on surface by [10] in area of Context 2:
11 ?Neolithic flint flakes, mainly patinated.
2 Roman pottery sherds.
2 ?medieval pottery sherds.
Finds donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1998.319.1).
Location marked on pipeline plan (S9) in file for NHERs 22843-22856 (Site A).
Identified by J. J. Wymer (NAU) and compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 12 August 1986.
Information from (S2).
Previously recorded under NHER 20017.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 28 May 2014.

May 1992. Metal detecting.
Found by [11] in area of Context 2:
1 Roman brooch (Hod Hill; 1st century AD).
Identified and compiled by J. A. Davies (NCM), 20 May 1992.
Previously recorded under NHER 20017.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 28 May 2014.

Before 13 April 2006. Metal-detecting.
Found by [12] at [13]:
1 Early Saxon unidentified copper alloy object. See (S10).
Identified by A. Rogerson (NLA), see description and map in file.
Previously recorded as NHER 51323.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 12 March 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 28 May 2014.

February 2016-March 2019. Fieldwalking [15].
7 undated burnt flints.
12 prehistoric flint cores and 167 flakes and blades.
1 Late (Final) Upper Palaeolithic backed flint blade, 1 burin, 1 crested blade and 6 blades.
1 Late (Final) Upper Palaeolithic/Mesolithic flint burin and 1 blade.
1 Late (Final) Upper Palaeolithic to Early Neolithic flint possible project point (made on flake) and 22 blades.
1 Late (Final) Upper Palaeolithic to Early Bronze Age bifacially-worked core or crude chopping tool.
1 ?Early Mesolithic possible adze fragment.
13 Mesolithic flint bladelet cores.
10 Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age flint cores, 27 blades and 102 flakes and simple flake tools.
1 Neolithic flint scraper.
1 ?Neolithic flint flake.
Information from PAS import.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 November 2023.

April-May 2016. Metal-detecting. [16].
1 post-medieval token.
Information from PAS import.
A. Beckham (HES), 4 July 2016.

March 2019-August 2022. Fieldwalking. [17].
?Early Upper Palaeolithic flint long blade (with a potentially early date suggested by its rolled condition).
?Neolithic flint pebble mace fragment.
Information from PAS import.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 March 2024.