Record Details
| NHER Number: | 9972 |
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| Type of record: | Find Spot |
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| Name: | Unprovenanced prehistoric finds (Tasburgh, poorly located) |
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Summary
Various objects found during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the parish of Tasburgh, but with no additional information regarding provenance. These finds include Mesolithic and Neolithic worked flints and two Neolithic/Bronze Age stone shaft-hole implements.
Images - none
Location
| Parish: | TASBURGH, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
Various objects found during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the parish of Tasburgh, but with no additional information regarding provenance.
FINDS CURRENTLY OR PREVIOUSLY HELD BY THE NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM
At some time in the first half of the 18th century a stone axe hammer was found in Tasburgh parish. It was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum by Rev. P. Stannard and is listed in (S1), which also included a small engraving of the object. An early pencil sketch of this object is held by the HES (S2). This axe hammer was subsequently described in (S3) as "…a fine specimen (8 inches long), with the sides somewhat hollowed…". This was one of a number of objects examined by Dr. F. S. Wallis in 1969, who identified it as made of sandstone (no grouping). Information from (S4), see also (S5). Although both (S4) and (S5) list an old NCM accession number (177.27), this implement does not appear in the current museum records.
This find was previously recorded as NHER 9974.
The Norwich Castle Museum Fitch Collection includes what appears to be a second Neolithic/Bronze Age shaft-hole implement that had been found at Tasburgh prior to the mid 19th century (NWHCM : 1894.76.834). This object - identified in early sources as both an axehead and an axe hammer - is described by (S4) as being made of "gritstone", weighting 4.75lbs and 5.5 inches long. It had been exhibited by Fitch at a meeting of the Archaeological Institute in 1847 (S6) and was described in (S3) as "…greenstone (5 1/2 inches), and rather curved longitudinally. It is also mentioned in (S7) and (S8). This object was subsequently classified as a battle axe (S9) and its petrology identified as quartz dolerite (Group XVIII) (S5). It is also one of a number of dolerite implements that were subject to geochemical and magnetic characterisation (S10).
It should be noted that there remains the possibility that there has been a degree of confusion between these two shaft-hole implements, at least in some sources.
FINDS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM
It is noted in (S11) that, prior to 1907, Neolithic implements of "Sandy Site Type" had been found in the parish by both W. G. Clarke and G. Rye. According to a note on (S4) at least some of the flints recovered by Clarke are now held by the British Museum.
Previously recorded as NHER 9973.
According to (S12)/(S13) the British Museum also holds an unspecified number of Mesolithic worked flints from Tasburgh. These finds were previously recorded as NHER 11499.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 28 January 2014.
Monument Types
- FINDSPOT (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
- FINDSPOT (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
- FINDSPOT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
Associated Finds
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
- AXE HAMMER (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
- BATTLEAXE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TM 19 NE 9. |
| <S1> | Article in Serial: Committee Of The Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society. 1853. Catalogue of The Antiquities in Norwich Castle Museum. |
| <S2> | Illustration: Unknown. Unknown. Drawing of a Neolithic or Bronze Age stone axe hammer from Tasburgh.. Card. None. |
| <S3> | Publication: Evans, J. 1897. The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain. 2nd Edition. p 200. |
| <S4> | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Neolithic. Tasburgh. |
| <S5> | 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. |
| <S6> | Article in Monograph: 1851. Catalogue of Antiquities. Exhibited in the Museum formed during the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute, held at Norwich, in 1847. Memoirs Illustrative of the History and Antiquities of Norfolk and the City. Archaeological Institute. pp xxiii-lvi. p xxv. |
| <S7> | Documentary Source: Various. Drawings, engravings and etchings, including numerous portraits, maps, etc, collected by Dawson Turner to illustrate Blomefield's "History of Norfolk" 1810-1847. Add MS 23024-23052. Vol XXII; f.110 (Add MS 23045). |
| <S8> | Monograph: 1901. The Victoria History of Norfolk. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. Vol 1. p 278. |
| <S9> | Article in Serial: Roe, F. E. S. 1966. The Battle-Axe Series in Britain. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Vol XXXII pp 199-245. p 236. |
| <S10> | Article in Serial: Williams-Thorpe, O., Webb, P. C. and Jones, M. C. 2003. Non-destructive geochemical and magnetic characterisation of Group XVIII dolerite stone axes and shaft-hole implements from England. Journal of Archaeological Science. Vol 30 pp 1237-1267. |
| <S11> | Article in Serial: Clarke, W. G. 1907. The Distribution of Flint and Bronze Implements in Norfolk. Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society. Vol VIII Pt III (for 1906-1907) pp 393-409. |
| <S12> | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Mesolithic. |
| <S13> | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. NHERs 9972, 9974 and 11499. |
Related records - none
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