Record Details
| NHER Number: | 3017 |
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| Type of record: | Find Spot |
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| Name: | Palaeolithic handaxe and fossil animal remains, Sparham Common gravel pit |
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Summary
A Palaeolithic flint handaxe was found in a load of gravel that was brought to Lenwade Mill (Great Witchingham) in 1958. This gravel had been taken from the Innes and Co. pit at Sparham. This pit also produced fossil animal remains, including a number of mammoth teeth (one previously recorded under NHER 3055)
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 076 179 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG01NE |
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| Parish: | SPARHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
February 1958. Stray Find.
Found in load of gravel delivered at Lenwade Mill in 1958:
1 Palaeolithic "Acheulian" flint handaxe. See drawing (S1).
This gravel had come from the Innes and Co. pit at Sparham, which was in the area formerly known as Sparham Common. Information from (S2).
This find was first reported in (S3) and is listed in (S4). It is also noted on (S5) and in (S6), (S7) and (S8), although no additional information is given.
The Sparham Common pit also produced a number of fossil animal bones during the 1950s and 1960s, including a number of mammoth teeth. Some of these fossils are now held by the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1957.2 : G; NWHCM : 1957.2; NWHCM : 1959.104 : G; NWHCM : 1959.294 : G; NWHCM : 1961.122.1-2 : G; NWHCM : 1963.111 : G; NWHCM : 1963.321 : G; NWHCM : 1964.499 : G). One of these teeth was previously recorded as NHER 3055.
The mapped extent of this record reflects the suggested origin of the handaxe. The fossils were recovered from various other locations within the pit.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 21 August 2013.
8 August 1996. Field Visit.
Pit visited by J. J. Wymer.
Partly flooded pit in terrace c. 6-8m above floodplain. Overgrown around edges. Sandy, coarse gravel exposed recently at west end.
Information from (S5).
P. Watkins (HES), 6 February 2015.
Monument Types
- FINDSPOT (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 1000000 BC to 40001 BC)
- FINDSPOT (Palaeolithic - 1000000 BC to 10001 BC)
Associated Finds
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Lower Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 10001 BC)
- HANDAXE (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 500000 BC to 40001 BC)
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 01 NE 28. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. NHERs 3017 and 3055. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Illustration: [Unknown]. 1958. Drawing of a Palaeolithic flint handaxe from Sparham. Card. 1:1. |
| <S2> | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Palaeolithic. |
| <S3> | Serial: 1958. Council for British Archaeology Group 7 Bulletin of Archaeological Discoveries. Vol 5. p 4. |
| <S4> | Monograph: Roe, D. A. 1968. A Gazetteer of British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Sites. CBA Research Report. No 8. p 239. |
| <S5> | Record Card: Wymer, J. J. Wymer Index Card - Palaeolithic. Sparham (Innes and Co. Pit). |
| <S6> | Publication: Wymer, J. J. 1985. Palaeolithic Sites of East Anglia. p 55. |
| <S7> | Unpublished Contractor Report: 1997. The English Rivers Palaeolithic Project. Regions 8 (East Anglian Rivers) and 11 (Trent Drainage). Wessex Archaeology. W&Y-2, No.3. |
| <S8> | Website: TERPS online database. Site 22575. |
Related records - none
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