Record Details
| NHER Number: | 9372 |
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| Type of record: | Find Spot |
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| Name: | Neolithic flint axehead roughout, north bank of Yare near Bluebell Road |
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Summary
In around 1914 a flint axe was recovered close to the north bank of the River Yare. Although initially as a Palaeolithic handaxe it has now been reidenitifed as a Neolithic axehead roughout. There have been some suggestions that at least one other object was also recovered around the same time, although, on balance, it seems likely that the available sources all refer to the same object.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 1975 0619 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG10NE |
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| Parish: | NORWICH, NORWICH, NORFOLK |
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Full description
1914/1915. Stray Find.
Found by J. E. Sainty near Morse's Rose Garden, north bank of Yare above Bluebell Road:
1 Palaeolithic Late Acheulian flint handaxe. Donated to Norwich Castle Museum in 1959 (NWHCM : 1959.47). Information from (S1). Subsequently identified by F. Healy as a Neolithic axe roughout made on a flake (S2).
According to (S1) this is the object Sainty described in (S3) as a "…broken specimen of late Acheulean type with curiously parallel sides…found in 1915 within the Norwich boundary at Eaton". As noted by Wymer (S4) this is probably the same object as a "Palaeolithic "Drift" implement" from Eaton that Sainty exhibited at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia on 19 October 1914 (although this would suggest the date of discovery was subsequent recorded incorrectly). This was described as "4 1/2 in. by 2 1/2 in, broken at one end, with ochreous patina" (S5). This object is almost certainly why Eaton is listed in (S6) as one of the locations that had produced "Palaeolithic Drift" implements between 1907 and 1919 (Sainty being recorded as the finder).
Although it is notable that only one object is mentioned by Sainty himself in (S3) there has nevertheless clearly been a degree of confusion over how many objects he actually recovered at this site. Roe (S7) listed two handaxes with this provenance, one in the NCM and one held by Sainty - no references are given although it is possible that he regarded the objects mentioned by (S3) and (S5) as different objects. The possibility that there were two handaxes is also noted on (S8) and in (S9) and (S10), along with Healy's identification of the object in the NCM as Neolithic.
The mapped extent of this record indicates the general area in which this object (or objects) was probably recovered.
See NHER 60110 for further discussion of the poorly provenanced Palaeolithic finds from Eaton.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2014.
Monument Types
- FINDSPOT (Lower Palaeolithic to Middle Palaeolithic - 1000000 BC? to 40001 BC?)
- FINDSPOT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
Associated Finds
- AXEHEAD ROUGHOUT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 20 NW 146. |
| --- | 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. Eaton. |
| <S2> | Thesis: Healy, F. 1978. The Neolithic in Norfolk. p 520. |
| <S3> | 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. |
| <S4> | Publication: Wymer, J. J. 1985. Palaeolithic Sites of East Anglia. p 61. |
| <S5> | Article in Serial: 1915. Summary of Proceedings. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. Vol II Pt I (for 1914-15) pp 154-157. p 154. |
| <S6> | Article in Serial: Clarke, W. G. 1919. The Distribution of Flint and Bronze Implements in Norfolk. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. Vol III Pt I (for 1918-19) pp 147-149. p 148. |
| <S7> | Monograph: Roe, D. A. 1968. A Gazetteer of British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Sites. CBA Research Report. No 8. p 236. |
| <S8> | Record Card: Wymer, J. J. Wymer Index Card - Palaeolithic. Norwich (Eaton, Morse's Rose Garden). |
| <S9> | Unpublished Contractor Report: 1997. The English Rivers Palaeolithic Project. Regions 8 (East Anglian Rivers) and 11 (Trent Drainage). Wessex Archaeology. W&Y-4, No.9. |
| <S10> | Website: TERPS online database. Site 22629. |
Related records - none
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