NHER 3959 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced Mesolithic and Neolithic finds (Narford, poorly located)

Various objects found during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Narford area, but with no additional information regarding provenance

FINDS IN THE NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM

At some time prior to 1946 a "surface flint industry" comprising flakes and cores was identified at an unknown location in Narford by I. J. Thatcher and P. L. K. Schwabe. At least some of these flints were donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1946.164.29). Information from (S1). Although recorded by (S1) as Neolithic, the finds in the NCM are described in the museum's records as a "Mesolithic flint industry". The finds are labelled "Thatcher, Schwabe, Nicholls, Narford".

The NCM's finds were examined by R. Jacobi and listed in (S2) as comprising 1 ?Mesolithic blade core, 1 later prehistoric retouched flake (?unfinished biface) and a number of "irregular stone struck flakes". It should be noted that the assession number listed in (S2) relates to a number of finds recovered at the Big Meadow Roman site (NHER 3974) by B. Ripper (NWHCM : 1952.141) - this is presumably an error.

P. Watkins (HES), 4 June 2013.

FINDS IN OTHER MUSEUMS

The King's Lynn Museum holds a small collection of worked flints from Narford that were donated by [1] in 1977 (KILLM : 1977.130.12). These are recorded by the musem as "1 core tool, 3 worked flakes from Narford". The "core tool" appears to be the Mesolithic blade core listed in (S3). This piece is described in (S2), which also notes this accession number.

The King's Lynn Museum also hold many objects from Narford that were donated by [2], the majority of which are from the Big Meadow Roman site (NHER 3974). The unprovenanced pieces include a Mesolithic flint tranchet axehead, which is listed in (S3) and described in (S2). The finder's collection number is recorded in (S2) (N2252), but its museum accession number is unknown.

According to (S3) the King's Lynn Museum also hold 29 Mesolithic blades/flakes and a Mesolithic scraper from Narford. These are not listed in (S2) and it is unclear in which collection they were identified. The scraper may be a piece that was found by [3] in 1953 (KILLM : 1960.28.7). It is noted in (S3) that the Mesolithic finds were associated with a "Neolithic pressure flaked knife".

The Mesolithic finds from Narford listed in (S3) were previously recorded as NHER 13333.

P. Watkins (HES), 4 June 2013.