NHER 9776 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced ?Palaeolithic flint 'ovate', Markshall (Caistor St Edmund, poorly located)

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Summary

A flint implement described as a "small ovate" (potentially a Palaeolithic handaxe) was found in Markshall (now part of Caistor St Edmund parish) during the late 19th century.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet Not recorded
Civil Parish CAISTOR ST EDMUND, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Map

No mapped location recorded.

Pre 1881. Stay Find.
Found by H. B. Woodward:
1 "small ovate" flint implement. 1/4" to 3/8" thick and "not at all abraded". Information from (S1). Potentially Palaeolithic?

It is not known exactly where this object was recovered, although according to (S2) it was found in "..the talus of a low gravel cliff between the Rivers Tese and Yare, near their confluence". It is probable that it was found somewhere in the vicinty of a gravel pit that was open at TG 233 054 (NHER 9580).

This object is the reason that Markshall is listed in (S3) as a location that had produced Palaeolithic material prior to 1907. It is recorded that (at this time at least) it was in the Geological Museum. This find is noted in (S4) and according to (S5) is also mentioned in letters sent to W. G. Clarke by H. B. Woodward and A. Pringle (S6). One of the latter apparently "incorrectly" gives its provenance as "Lakenham". Probably the "...undescribed speciment from Markshall..." that Sainty (S7) recorded as having been donated to the Museum of Practical Geology - now the Geological Musem.

This object is noted on (S8) and in (S9) but could not be traced by Wymer. Although the Geological Museum's collections are now held by the British Museum there is now no record of a Palaeolithic implement from Markshall.
This find is also noted in (S10) and (S11), although no additional information is given.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 31 March 2014.

  • --- Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
  • <S1> Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Palaeolithic.
  • <S10> Unpublished Contractor Report: 1997. The English Rivers Palaeolithic Project. Regions 8 (East Anglian Rivers) and 11 (Trent Drainage). Wessex Archaeology. W&Y-4, No.25.
  • <S11> Website: TERPS online database. Site 22654.
  • <S2> Publication: Woodward, H. B. 1881. The Geology of the County Around Norwich. p 145.
  • <S3> Article in Serial: Clarke, W. G. 1907. The Distribution of Flint and Bronze Implements in Norfolk. Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society. Vol VIII Pt III (for 1906-1907) pp 393-409. p 395.
  • <S4> Article in Monograph: Sainty, J. E. 1935. Norfolk Prehistory. British Association for the Advancement of Science. Report of the Annual Meeting, 1935. Norwich, September 4-11. British Association for the Advancement of Science. Appendix pp 60-71. p 63.
  • <S5> Article in Serial: Clarke, R. R. 1935. Notes on the Archaeology of Markshall. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXV Pt III pp 354-367. p 355.
  • <S6> Publication: Clarke, W.G.. MSS 126.
  • <S7> Article in Serial: Sainty, J. E. and Boswell, P. G. H. 1927. An Acheulean Palaeolithic Workshop Site at Whitlingham, near Norwich. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. Vol V Pt II (for 1926). p 177.
  • <S8> Record Card: Wymer, J. J. Wymer Index Card - Palaeolithic. Caistor St Edmund (Markshall); Markshall.
  • <S9> Publication: Wymer, J. J. 1985. Palaeolithic Sites of East Anglia. p 69.
  • HANDAXE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 1000000 BC? to 40001 BC?)

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Record last edited

Mar 4 2016 11:57AM

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