Record Details
| NHER Number: | 5086 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Possible Neolithic flint mine |
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Summary
In 1870 a possible Neolithic flint mine was discovered at this location. A visit to the site in 1908 recorded a number of Neolithic flint implements along with an encircling earthen bank – presumably of contemporary date. An earthwork survey undertaken in 1995 identified an isolated depression that appears to have been the feature first identified in the 19th century.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TL 8330 9493 |
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| Map Sheet: | TL89SW |
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| Parish: | STANFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
1870. Flint mine claimed. Deer antlers, one NCM 300.958.
1908. Revisited by W.G. Clarke; Neolithic flints in and around, and encircling banks suggested.
See discussion in file.
E. Rose (NAU) 21 January 1986.
1995. Analytical Earthwork Survey.
Survey by Royal Commission as part of a national project investigating Neolithic flint mines.
The site lies on the north-facing side of a shallow dry valley, aligned roughly east-west and leading into the Little Ouse catchment. Flint extraction may have occurred after the erosion of flint seams by the nearby River Wissey.
The features identified included an isolated depression that appears to correspond with the mapped location of this record and is therefore likely to be the hollow first described by Greenwell in 1870 (S5) and subsequently examined by Clarke in 1908 (S2).
A series of clustered depressions were also recorded to the north, close to the river, but the nature of these features was unclear - these are recorded under NHER 61973.
It was observed that the site surveyed had been landscaped and levelled and that the shifting sandy soil may also have obscured traces of extraction.
See publication (S8) for plan and further details. This survey is also noted in (S9).
P. Watkins (HES), 20 March 2017.
Monument Types
- BANK (EARTHWORK) (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- FLINT MINE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- PIT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
Associated Finds
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- PICK (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Unpublished Document: [Norwich Castle Museum staff]. 1971. Flint Mine Sites. |
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 89 SW 10 [2]. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Neolithic. Stanford. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| --- | Photograph: CXU 3. |
| --- | Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service. |
| <S1> | Publication: Clarke, W. G. 1922. Our Homeland Prehistoric Antiquities: and how to study them. p 103. |
| <S2> | Article in Serial: 1911. Summary of Proceedings. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. Vol I Pt I (for 1909-1910) pp 109-121. p 116. |
| <S3> | Publication: Clarke, W. G. 1925. In Breckland Wilds. First Edition. p 181. |
| <S4> | Article in Serial: Clarke, G. and Piggott, S. 1933. The Age of the British Flint Mines. Antiquity. Vol 7 No 26 pp 166-183. p 166. |
| <S5> | Article in Serial: Greenwell, W. 1870. On the Opening of Grime's Graves in Norfolk. Journal of the Ethnological Society of London. Vol II No 4 pp 419-439. p 432. |
| <S6> | Article in Serial: 1901. Antiquarian Intelligence. Journal of the British Archaeological Association, New Series. Second Series Vol VII pp 180-188. p 184. |
| <S7> | Article in Monograph: Sainty, J. E. 1935. Norfolk Prehistory. Report of the Annual Meeting, 1935. Norwich, September 4-11. British Association for the Advancement of Science. Appendix pp 60-71. p 67. |
| <S8> | Publication: Barber, M., Field, D. and Topping, P. 1999. The Neolithic Flint Mines of England. pp 3, 33, 55-57, 75; Fig 4.1. |
| <S9> | Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 1997. Addenda to Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1995. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt IV p 564. |
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