Monument record BNH 098 - Mesolithic flint scatter and Neolithic features and Early Saxon settlement at Area 1, Thetford to Bury Pipeline, Barnham

2013-2014:

This site produced the largest and one of the most significant struck flint assemblages from the project. A total of 2,231 struck flint and around 2kg of unworked burnt flint were recovered from the area, the majority of this coming from a single spread of knapping debris.

The spread of flintwork consists of 1,924 struck flints and approximately 1kg of unworked burnt flint. It comprises mostly knapping waste and includes a high proportion of very small flakes and flake fragments, suggesting the in-situ working of flint. This is also supported by the very good condition of the assemblage and the presence of refitting pieces, whilst variations in the composition of the assemblage within different parts of the hollow may indicate some spatial patterning to the flintworking. The assemblage appears technologically homogeneous and is the product of a blade-based reduction strategy. The implements are dominated by microliths, mostly rods and micro-scalene triangles, which indicate a Later Mesolithic date. Few other retouched pieces have so far been identified but those that are present, such as a burin made on a blade using a retouched platform, are also typical of Mesolithic industries and again support the essential chronological integrity of the assemblage.

To the north of this spread is a further hollow [1058] that produced 65 struck flints and c. 0.6kg of unworked burnt flint. This assemblage is also dominated by the products of blade-based reduction and includes more Later Mesolithic microliths, but it had clearly been disturbed, as it also includes a fragment of a polished axe that had been reused as centripetally worked core of a type in common use in the Breckland during the Later Neolithic. Although this had been fairly well flaked down there were no other flakes from it within the layer. This hollow also contained much higher densities of unworked burnt flint that the Mesolithic spread, suggesting a more intense use of hearths. Other features of interest from this area include pits [1058] and [1071], which provided 20 and 11 struck pieces respectively. The assemblage from the former includes a Levallois-like core, similar to the core made on the polished axe from hollow [1058] and likewise characteristic of Later Neolithic industries, whilst the latter included a leaf-shaped arrowhead of Early Neolithic date. The flintwork from the remaining features in Area 1 is mostly comparable to that from the Mesolithic spread and suggests that flintworking during that period was more widespread than indicated by the hollow alone, but had elsewhere been disturbed by later activity. Some of the pieces, however, are of later date, such as the very large core made from floorstone found in posthole [1007], which is comparable to Later Neolithic examples and which may have been brought to the site from Grime’s Graves.

In addition to the above flint scatter, two truncated pits and a possible post hole of Neolithic date were also identified.

Part of an Early Saxon settlement was identified, comprising 7 sunken-featured buildings, a number of pit, and post holes some of which form a post-built structure. (S3)