NHER 6122 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic worked flints and Roman pottery sherds (Morston, poorly located)

Various finds known to have been recovered in Morston during the late 19th century and early 20th century, but with no additional information regarding their exact provenance.

FINDS IN THE NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM

The Norwich Castle Museum holds a "Neolithic flint implement fragment" that was found in Morston by Colonel H. W. Feilden and donated to the museum in May 1897 (NWHCM : 1897.30.1). This collection also includes a "flint fragment in the shape of a human figure" (NWHCM : 1897.30.4).

According to (S1) the Norwich Castle Museum's Hamond Collection includes the "tip of a chipped flint axe" that was found at Morston in 1930 (NWHCM : 1958.114).

In 1959 J. E. Sainty donated at least two objects from Morston to the Norwich Castle Museum, these listed in the museum's records as a "Neolithic polished axehead fragment found with a flint pick at Morston" (NWHCM : 1959.56). Information from (S1). No exact provenance is recorded, although they may be from the Mesolithic site that Sainty identified near the coast (NHER 1873). The polished axehead fragment is possibly an object noted by Sainty in (S2), which may or may not be a polished axehead that Sainty is recorded as having found a little way to the south of NHER 1873 in 1938 (NHER 1875). The 'pick' is recorded in R. Jacobi's archive (S3) as the plano-convex butt fragment of a "Norfolk type adze", so is potentially Mesolithic.
Previously recorded as NHER 6123.

A Neolithic notched flint flake from an unknown site in Morston was donated to the NCM in 1963 (NWHCM : 1963.120.52).
Information from (S1).
Previously recorded as NHER 6124.

The Apling Collection includes part of a Neolithic flaked flint axehead and 2 Neolithic flint scrapers (NWHCM : 1977.124.47). No site information is recorded.
Information from (S4).
Previously recorded under NHER 14023.

FINDS IN OTHER MUSEUMS

The King's Lynn Museum holds a number of "worked flints" that were found in Morston by Dr. T. Matthews during the 1950s and 1960s (KILLM : 1977.130.24). According to (S3) this collection includes a very large Upper Palaeolithic two-platform columnar blade core.
Previously recorded as NHER 15735.

The British Museum Warren Collection includes 3 Upper Palaeolithic two-opposed platform blade cores from Morston. Information from (S5). These finds are described in (S3) and also listed in (S5). As noted in (S4) the Warren Collection also a flint pick (18cm long). This is probably the unprovenanced ?Mesolithic pick listed in (S6) and may be an object recorded by Jacobi (S3) as a pick or elongated core roughout.

According to (S6) the Pitt-Rivers Museum (Oxford) holds 7 Mesolithic cores and 5 blades/flakes from Morston. These finds are listed by (S4) as 7 cores (3 double-platform - 1 13cm long) and 5 flakes. Although listed as unprovenance by (S6) they may well be from Sainty's Mesolithic site on the coast (NHER 1873) and are listed as such by (S4). It should however be noted that there may be some confusion here as although Jacobi lists a number of finds in the Pitt-Rivers Museum that did indeed came from this site (all found by D. Baden-Powell) the artefact types and quantities do not tally with those listed by (S4) and (S6). It may be that confusion here between the material in the Pitt-Rivers and the British Museum (one of the blade cores in the Warren Collection being recorded as 13cm long). One of the Morston objects in the Pitt Rivers Museum is a Late Upper Palaeolithic blade core, which is listed in a catalogue of long blade cores compiled by N. Barton (see copy in file - from British Museum Wymer Archive).

OTHER REPORTED DISCOVERIES

Pre 1919. Stray Find.
Morston is listed in (S7) as one of the locations that had produced Neolithic polished implements prior to 1919. According to (S1) it is also listed as such in W. G. Clarke's manuscript notes. This object (or objects) is recorded in (S1) as being held by the Norwich Castle Museum, although it is unclear to which collection this is referring. A note added to (S1) suggested that this was a reference to the finds donated by Sainty (NWHCM : 1959.56; see above), although these were not donated to museum until many years later.
Previously recorded under NHER 6123.

1931. Stray Find.
Found by H. Hamond about 1 mile [0.6km] from the shore:
Roman pottery sherds (black and grey wares).
According to (S8) these sherds were exhibited at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia.
Previously recorded as NHER 6125.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 11 July 2014.