Record Details

NHER Number:15352
Type of record:Find Spot
Name:Late Upper Palaeolithic long blade industry and Mesolithic, Neolithic and later finds

Summary

Late Upper Palaeolithic flint long blade industry recovered on the beach surface between 1970 and 1989. The assemblage comprises over 650 black-stained flints, including backed blades, scrapers, burins and various other retouched pieces. It is likely that a number of other Late Upper Palaeolithic flints recovered in the immediate vicinity of this site were also derived from this same source, including a small scatter immediately to the west, within Thornham parish (NHER 1304). Although the majority of the flints were found around the High Water Mark, a small number were recovered in situ on a glacial till, beneath a sequence of peats and clays that were only exposed at exceptionally low tides. It is likely that this area (NHER 22810) was the source of the material that had washed up onto the beach. The nature of the flint assemblage points to a Late Glacial or Early Post-glacial date (c. 10,000-8,000 BC), with radiocarbon dating and palynological analysis of the overlying peat deposit demonstrating that the site could not have been occupied after about 7000 BC. Around the time it was occupied would have been an open inland site, some distance from the coastline. A small number of later objects have been found in amongst the Palaeolithic flints, including an Early Mesolithic blade; twoMesolithic flint tranchet adzes; Neolithic flint and stone axeheads; a small Neolithic stone macehead and medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds. Faunal remains were also recovered, including sheep, horse, whale and dog bones.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TF 755 450
Map Sheet:TF74NE
Parish:TITCHWELL, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Scatter of predominantly Late Upper Palaeolithic worked flints (found to be eroding from deposits only exposed at very low tides) and a small number of later finds. The first concentrations of Late Upper Palaeolithic worked flints were found in the area of Context 3 (see below) but further material was subsequently recovered from across the mapped extent of this record. This assemblage was examined by J. J. Wymer and a detailed account published (S1).

RECORDED DISCOVERIES

1969-1970. Stray Find.
Various objects found within shingle on beach by [1]:

Found at TF 7595 4512 (Context 4):
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic black flint flake. Not waterworn but has barnacles on it. Although initially indentified as Mesolithic the recorded condition suggest a date similar to that of the subsequent discoveries.
1 Mesolithic orange flint adze. Subsequently donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.166.1).
Information from (S2). Both objects are listed in (S10), with the Mesolithic implement described as a very rolled tranchet axehead.
Previously recorded as NHER 1348.

Found at TF 7592 4512 (Context 5):
1 "Neolithic flint adze". Black flint.
Information from (S3)
Previously recorded as NHER 1349.

Found at TF 7563 4507 (Context 6):
1 Neolithic flint axehead with polished cutting edge. Water worn.
Information from (S3).
Previously recorded as NHER 1350.

Found at TF 7588 4510 (Context 7):
1 Neolithic small stone axehead. Damaged, possibly reused. Water worn. Petrology: Group VI (N.134) – see (S4).
Information from (S3).
Previously recorded as NHER 1351.

Found at TF 7585 4506 (Context 8):
1 Neolithic stone macehead. Not quartzite. Petrology: greywacke (N.136) – see (S4).
Information from (S3), see rough sketch on reverse. Subsequently donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2001.166.2).
Previously recorded as NHER 1352.

See drawing by [2] of a “Meso adze” that had been found by [1] at Titchwell (S5). The dimensions of this object suggest that it is an object seen by R. Jacobi and described in (S10) as Mesolithic tranchet adze. It had previously been assumed that this object was orange implement found at Context 4, but this is clearly not the case. Probably the object from Context 5 originally recorded as a Neolithic adze.

It is clear from correspondence between [1] and R. Jacobi (found in British Museum Wymer Archive) that several Upper Palaeolithic flint blades had been found at this site. A sketch map supplied my the finder (based on a tracing of an O.S map) clearly relates to the above finds, although it should be noted that the positions of the individual objects appear to be slightly different to those recorded by the NCM. Several blades found by [1] were drawn by Jacobi (S11)-(S12), the majority of which were probably from this site, although at least one may have been from nearby NHER 1353.

These discoveries were first reported in (S6).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

1973. Stray Find.
Found on beach at TF 7591 4512 (Context 5) by [1]:
1 Neolithic flint axe with polished cutting edge. Black flint.
Information from (S3)
Previously recorded as NHER 1349.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

Pre 1975. Stray Find.
Found c.50-100m "N.W of the concrete blockhouse now lying on the beach, on the E side of the channel running down the beach…" (TF 7600 4506):
1 wooden rod with incised notches along shaft. Inbedded in grey clay containing blocks of peat.
See copies of letter from C. Green to R. Jacobi and completed Norfolk Archaeological Index record card in file (both from British Museum Wymer Archive).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 12 November 2014.

1979. Stray Find.
Found by [2] at TF 7555 4508 (Context 1):
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade core. Black flint. Donated to the King’s Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1980.22.2).
Compiled by A. Lawson (NAU). Information from file notes.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

14 April-30 June 1979. Stray Find.
Found by [3] along high water mark between TF 7514 4505 and TF 7598 4502 (Context 3):
Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blades, some retouched. Dark black flint. Donated to the King’s Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1980.11). Early post-glacial, cf Sproughton, Suffolk.
Also various animal bones, including sheep, horse, whale and dog; see list in file.
Compiled by A. Lawson (NAU), 11 October 1979. Information from file notes. These discoveries were noted in (S7).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

September 1979. Stray Find.
Found by [3] on beach at TF 757 450 (Context 9):
2 medieval pottery sherds (joining sherds of Grimston jug). Donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1998.272.1).
Identified and compiled by A. Rogerson (NAU), 9 October 1979. Information from file notes.
Previously recorded as NHER 15339.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

September 1979-April 1989.
Large assemblage of worked flints recovered over the course of many visits by [3] and [4] (the majority by the former). The flints were individually numbered and in most cases a reasonably accurate provenance recorded. In total 688 flints were found (553 by [3] and 135 by [4]), the majority of which had a distinctive black patina and are thought to be of predominantly Late Upper Palaeolithic date. Most were found on the beach around the high water mark, with the most pronounced concentration in the sand and shingle to the west of the creek that bisects the beach. Initially the source of this material was unclear. However in March 1983 a very low spring tide exposed a residual island of peat and clay sediments beyond the low water mark. These deposits were examined by [1] who recovered a black-patinated flint core on the surface of a till, from which peat had been eroded. These deposits were almost certainly the source of the Upper Palaeolithic material on the beach and a number of additional flints were found in situ during subsequent visits. In May 1986 a range of dating and palaeoenvironmental samples were taken from the exposed deposits. It was confirmed that the artefacts lay upon a dark grey diamicton on the surface of a glacial till, overlain by a lower peat that was in turn sealed by silty clays and an upper peat. Radiocarbon dating and palynological analysis of the lower peat deposit demonstrating that the site could not have been occupied after about 7000 BC. See NHER 22810 and (S1) for further details. The Late Upper Palaeolithic assemblage and its probable date are discussed in more detail below.

The small number of later flints included:
2 Mesolithic microliths.
2 Early Neolithic leaf-shaped arrowheads.
1 Neolithic polished axehead, 1 part-polisehd axehead fragment.
1 ?Neolithic axehead fragment.

At the majority of the worked flints collected by [3] and [4] are now held by the King’s Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1992.274, including pieces previously accessioned as KILLM : 1986.15).
See copies of finder’s lists in file. A digital version of these catalogues has been created and used to generate a GIS plot of the recorded findspots. The mapped extent of this record was subsequently corrected to better reflect the recorded distribution of this assemblage.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

August 1982. Stray Find.
Found by [5] at TF 7555 4510 (Context 11):
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade. Donated to Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1984.198).
Identified by W. Milligan (NCM), information from file notes.
Previously recorded as NHER 20469.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

11 August 1983. Stray Find.
Found by [6] on midwater mark at c. 756 452 (Context 10):
1 Late Upper Palaeolithic blade core. Donated to King’s Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1983.151).
Identified by J. J. Wymer (NAU), 19 September 1983.
Previously recorded as NHER 19506.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

1984. Stray Find.
Found by [3] at TF 7594 4502 (Context 2):
1 post-medieval pottery sherd (Langerwehe stoneware). Donated to King’s Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1985.183.7).
Identified by A. Rogerson (NAU), November 1984, see file notes.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

1996. Stray Find.
Found by [7] at high tide, opposite RSPB reserve in general area of TF 7440 4510:
1 medieval pottery sherd (green-glazed Grimston).
Identified by W. Milligan (NCM), 12 July 1996.

May 2020. Stray find.
Early Mesolithic long blade.
Information from PAS Import.
E. McDonald (HES), 1 July 2020.

THE LATE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC INDUSTRY

Wymer regarded the distinct black patina on the majority of the beach finds as sufficient evidence that they were part of the same Upper Palaeolithic industry as those that had been recovered in situ. The typology of these artefacts and the condition of the diagnostic later pieces supported this assertion. In total 639 flints were considered to be Late Upper Palaeolithic, the vast majority of which had been recovered by [3] and [4] (although this total includes the large crested blade recorded under NHER 1353 and probably also the other reported discoveries Palaeolithic discoveries from this site). This assemblage comprises 37 scrapers, 16 burins, 19 retouched pieces, 5 small blacked blades, 3 hammerstones, 346 blades, 126 flakes, 38 cores, 18 crested flakes, 6 core tablets and 2 burin spalls.

This ‘long blade’ assemblage is notable for its lack of the ‘bruised’ blades present in other Late Upper Palaeolithic and also lacks the microliths and core tools that would be expected in Mesolithic assemblages. The most distinctive pieces are small backed blades of a type referred to in the past as Cheddar or Cresswellian Points (at least one also described as a 'penknife' point when first found) It was concluded that the Titchwell assemblage “is likely to belong to the end of the Late Glacial period or a little later when the climate was beginning to improve” (c. 10,000-8,000 BC). As noted above the analysis of the overlying deposits demonstrated that the site could not have been occupied after 7,000 BC.

See (S1) for further details. This assemblage was also described in (S8) and listed in (S9). One of the backed points is briefly described in (S10). 19 of the blade cores are listed in a catalogue of long blade cores compiled by N. Barton (Donald Baden-Powell Quaternary Research Centre, Oxford). See copy of catalogue in file (from British Museum Wymer Archive). Barton also drew a range of the Upper Palaeolithic worked flints from this site - see copies (S13)-(S14).
P. Watkins (HES), 7 November 2014.

Monument Types

  • FINDSPOT (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Early Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 7001 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • ANIMAL REMAINS? (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC? to 42 AD?)
  • ROD (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC? to 42 AD?)
  • BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BLADE CORE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BLADE CORE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BLADE CORE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BURIN (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • BURIN SPALL (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • CORE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • CORE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • CRESTED BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • END SCRAPER (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • FLAKE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • HAMMERSTONE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • NOTCHED BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • POINT (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • RETOUCHED BLADE (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • SCRAPER (TOOL) (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC to 10001 BC)
  • SCRAPER (TOOL)? (Upper Palaeolithic - 40000 BC? to 10001 BC?)
  • BLADE (Early Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 8000 BC)
  • MICROLITH (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • TRANCHET AXEHEAD (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • TRANCHET AXEHEAD (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • FLAKED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC? to 2351 BC?)
  • LEAF ARROWHEAD (Early Neolithic - 4000 BC to 3001 BC)
  • MACE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POLISHED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POLISHED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POLISHED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POLISHED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Map: Finder's Map..
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
---Fiche: Exists.
---Photograph: CXT 2.
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
<S1>Article in Serial: Wymer, J. J. and Robins, P. A. 1994. A Long Blade Industry beneath Boreal peat at Titchwell, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt I pp 13-37.
<S2>Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Mesolithic.
<S3>Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Neolithic. Titchwell [5].
<S4>Article in Serial: Clough, T. H. Mck. and Green, B. 1972. The petrological identification of stone implements from East Anglia. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Vol 38 pp 108-155.
<S5>Illustration: Smallwood, J. 1970. Drawing of a Mesolithic flint adze from Titchwell. Paper. 1:1.
<S6>Serial: 1970. Council for British Archaeology Group 7 Bulletin of Archaeological Discoveries for 1970. No 17.
<S7>Article in Serial: 1981. Archaeological Discoveries for 1979. CBA Group VI Bulletin. No 26 pp 19-30. p 27.
<S8>Article in Serial: Wymer, J. 1986. Paddling in the Past - An Upper Palaeolithic Site on the Norfolk Coast. Rescue News. Winter.
<S9>Article in Serial: Robins, P. and Wymer, J. 2006. Late Upper Palaeolithic (Long Blade) Industries in Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLV Pt I pp 86-95. p 93.
<S10>Archive: R. Jacobi. -. Jacobi Archive. 781; 10141.
<S11>Illustration: Jacobi, R. Drawings of five Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blades from Titchwell. Paper. 1:1.
<S12>Illustration: Jacobi, R. Drawing of a Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade from Titchwell. Paper. 1:1.
<S13>Illustration: Barton, N. 1985. Drawings of Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade, blade core, bladelet core and backed blade from Titchwell. Paper. 1:1.
<S14>Illustration: Barton, N. 1985. Drawings of Late Upper Palaeolithic flint end scrapers and burins from Titchwell. Paper. 1:1.

Related records

22810Related to: Flandrian deposits and associated Late Upper Palaeolithic flint industry (Monument)
20895Related to: Late Upper Palaeolithic flint blade (Find Spot)
1353Related to: Undatable prehistoric, Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic worked flints (Find Spot)
1304Related to: Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic worked flints (Find Spot)

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