NHER 4803 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced prehistoric finds (Northwold, poorly located)

Finds known to have been recovered in Northwold during the late 19th century and early 20th century but with little or no additional information regarding provenance.

FINDS IN THE NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM

May 1910. Stray Find.
A Mesolithic microlith was found at an unknown location in Northwold by E. W. Morten in 1910. This object was exhibited at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia the same year, where it was described as a 'pygmy' (S1). This, and another found in Thetford around the same time, were apparently the first such artefacts to be found in Norfolk. This discovery is also mentioned in (S2) and (S3) and the microlith itself was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1910.59). It is listed in (S4) and described in (S5).

The Norwich Castle Museum's J. S. Warburton Collection includes a number of worked flint from Northwold. Warburton is known to have recovered worked flints at a number of sites in Northwold, although in most cases it appears that it is not possible to associate the NCM's finds with particular locations. These flints include a long thin flake of probable Late Upper Palaeolithic date that is recorded as being from "Sargents Fen". This flake is listed in (S6). Warburton's Northwold finds also include a Mesolithic microlith and 10 blades. These are described in (S5) and listed in (S4). As noted in (S4) the microlith is likely to be the "pygmy implement" that Warburton exhibited at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia in 1911.

FINDS IN OTHER MUSEUMS

The Horsham Museum (Sussex) holds 2 Mesolithic flint blades from Northwold (ex Garraway Rice). These are listed in (S4) and described in (S5).

REPORTED DISCOVERIES

Pre 13 March 1911. Stray Find.
J. S. Warburton exhibited three prehistoric worked flints from Northwold at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia on the 13 March 1911. These were described as a "…pygmy implement - the second record for the county - and two arrowheads…" (S7). As noted above it is likely that the "pygmy" is the Mesolithic microlith in the NCM's Warburton Collection.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 14 August 2014.